Short second Golden Age in Buffalo, eh?
Going into the season, the Bills were the prohibitive favorite to win the AFC and the Super Bowl. The 6/1 opening odds on the Bills in the “To Win Super Bowl LVII” proposition bet reflected some rare forward-thinking in the world of NFL betting: Buffalo’s favored status stemmed instead from the general upward trending of the team through to the AFC divisional game in which only the magic of Patrick Mahomes cost them a shot at the Cincinnati Bengals.
And sure enough, the Bills started 2022 about as hot as they’d ended the postseason, their 5-1 SU/4-1-1 ATS run as the average game ended in a 29-14 Buffalo win; going back to 2021, that run goes to a nicely lucrative enough 10-2 SU/8-3-1 ATS mark. But after that revenge win at Kansas City in week 6 and the subsequent bye, things have gone well south for the Bills, currently on a 3-2 SU/1-4 ATS jag.
Additionally, Buffalo has sunk to second place in the AFC East behind the red-hot Miami Dolphins and with the now Mike White-led New York Jets at no. 3 with a bullet. Big-name, big-money free agent acquisition Von Miller is likely gone for the season as well. Which brings us to this:
Buffalo Bills -4 at New England Patriots, over/under 43½ points
The performance 2022 New England Patriots, currently at 6-5 SU/7-4 ATS, is not entirely surprising: This is a marginal team whose legendary head coach and mostly outstanding defense are allowing them to meet expectations.
And talk about playing to the level of the competition: Would you believe these Patriots are 1-4 SU/2-3 ATS as an underdog? Just to meddle things up, though, the Bills are just 2-3 SU/1-3-1 ATS against teams currently with a winning record, 6-0/4-2 ATS in all others.
After watching Mac Jones finally apparently playing with the coaches’ confidence last week against Minnesota, there’s just one factor holding us back from taking the Patriots at home and Bill Belichick knowing that his Patriots need a win to stay in the picture: Going back to 2020, the post-Brady Patriots are just 1-4 SU/2-3 ATS versus the Bills, including losses of 3, 29, 12 and 30 in chronological order and the sole win that bizarre 2021 game in which Mac Jones went 2-of-3 for 19 yards passing.
Are five games enough to constitute a trend and call for regression to the mean? NFLbets isn’t quite ready to call the Bills’ season a complete failure, but we can easily see the nadir continue for a while yet. Take the New England Patriots +4 vs Buffalo.
– written by Os Davis
Dallas Cowboys beat Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31-14 in NFC Wild Card game on Monday night. Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen predicts that Brady will retire. Allen and Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow will play each other in the AFC Divisional on Sunday at 3 p.m. CT. Â . . . .. The game will be played at Highmark Stadium. It will start at 1 p.,m., CT, as usual.
Tom Brady hasn't confirmed if he's returning to football or retiring. If he does, he could leave the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and play for another team in 2023.
Buffalo Bills take on the Cincinnati Bengals on January 22, 2323 at 3 pm ET.
Buffalo will host Cincinnati in the divisional round of the 2023 NFL playoffs. The game is 20 days after Bills safety Damar Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest and collapsed on the field. Buffalo entered the season as the betting favorite to represent the AFC in Super Bowl 57. Cincinnati won the whole season and is now the favorite for the Superbowl. Bills finished with one more regular-season win than Cincinnati. Bengals feel cheated out of a divisionary-round neutral-field setting.
ESPN released a modified version of an All-Pro team on Tuesday. Matthew Judon and Kyle Dugger are listed as the most valuable players in the NFL.
The Patriots have a lot of players hitting free agency this offseason. Bill Belichick and co. should make sure they keep them in New England.
The divisional round of the NFL playoffs starts on Saturday. The New England Patriots are not participating in the 2022 NFL season. Kansas City Chiefs tackle Orlando Brown Jr. is a potential target for the Patriots. Buffalo Bills safety Jordan Poyer is also a possible target. The NFL free agency window opens on March 15. New York is near the top of salary cap space.
Dallas Cowboys beat Tampa Bay Buccaneers to complete the wild card round of the NFL playoffs. The first game features the biggest favorite, with the Kansas City Chiefs 8½-point chalk over the Jacksonville Jaguars. Philadelphia Eagles play host to their NFC East rivals, the New York Giants, on Sunday. Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals meet in a rematch of a Monday Night Football game from Jan. 2. Dallas Cowboys travel to California to play the San Francisco 49ers.
Bucs are the most likely team for Tom Brady if he does play next season. Las Vegas has the next shortest odds to land the GOAT. A reunion with New England is possible.
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