Patriots vs. Bills Betting Odds – Week 2 NFL
The Patriots vs. Bills betting odds had New England -1.5 with the total set at 45.
A pair of AFC East rivals collide in upstate New York on Sunday when the Bills host the Patriots.
New England QB Tom Brady looked like vintage Tom Brady on opening night, while Buffalo QB Tyrod Taylor looked like, well, somebody with a stingy defense led by a modern-day mastermind supporting him.
Brady led his Pats out of the tunnel to watch their Super Bowl banner raised and he quickly reminded everybody exactly who still runs the NFL. All Brady did last Thursday versus Pittsburgh was go 25-of-32 for 288 yards with 4 TD passes and no interceptions. It was the 16th time in his illustrious career that he threw for 4+ TD while not tossing a pick. He accomplished the feat twice last season, one of which came in Orchard Park in a 37-22 Pats victory over the Bills.
Buffalo may have given the surprise performance of opening weekend, a 27-14 defensive clinic against Andrew Luck and the Colts. Buffalo took the ball away three times and grabbed a pair of sacks while Taylor’s offensive unit put up zeroes in both categories. Early season success is nothing new for the Bills though, as they’re 30-15 ATS in the first two weeks of the season since 1992. Buffalo’s defense needs to impose its will on New England, and if they can keep the score low, they’ll have a shot.
Over the past three seasons, New England is 0-7 ATS when scoring 15-21 points, a number that new Bills head coach Rex Ryan would be thrilled to see for the visitor this Sunday. The Patriots have struggled in games when the turnover battle is even, going 2-8 ATS in the past three seasons in those games, including 0-7 ATS on the road. However, Tom Brady has a career 23-3 record against Buffalo, which is his best (most wins and best win pct) against any opponent he’s faced more than five times in his career.
New England’s defense didn't shine against Pittsburgh, but is due to bounce back against a quarterback with such little game experience, as since 1992 the Pats are 39-19 ATS the week after being outgained by 100 yards, and Bill Belichick is 24-10 ATS in such games in his career. Overall, New England holds a 26-17 mark ATS versus Buffalo, but the club has split the past four meetings ATS.
Two of Brady's four TD passes against Buffalo last year went to WR Brandon LaFell who currently sits on the PUP list with a bad foot, the other two went to former backup TE Tim Wright and little-known WR Brian Tyms. Fast forward to this week and Brady will have all hands on deck with the exception of RB LeGarrette Blount, who’s still serving his suspension for an incident while with the Steelers last season. That should be a huge omission though, as Brady got no help from the running game at Buffalo last year as his team gained only 50 yards on 27 carries.
Brady connected with seven different receivers last week including a 1-yard scoring strike to former Bills TE Scott Chandler, 11 balls to WR Julian Edelman, and three touchdowns to All-Pro TE Rob Gronkowski. RB Dion Lewis impressed last week, totaling 120 scrimmage yards on 19 touches in Blount’s place.
The defense was just good enough last week against the AFC’s top offense from last season, as Pittsburgh racked up nearly 500 yards of offense with arguably the best running back in the NFL sitting out. New England was statistically beaten in every category with the exception of the two that matter, turnovers and points.
Bills QB Tyrod Taylor was efficient in Week 1, going 14-of-19 for 195 yards and a touchdown pass to new WR Percy Harvin. Taylor added 41 yards on the ground, the same total as star RB LeSean McCoy who did add 46 receiving yards to his tally. Taylor and McCoy will need to move the chains on the ground, as New England is 5-1 ATS when allowing 75-to-100 rush yards in the past three years.
Rex Ryan will need to correct two glaring flaws from last week in order to defeat his nemesis. Buffalo had a league-high 113 penalty yards and finished the game just 5-of-13 on third downs. When the opposing quarterback holds a career mark of 23-3 against your franchise, those kinds of mistakes lose games.
Buffalo won a meaningless final matchup of last season at Foxboro, holding the Pats, who had nothing to play for getting ready for the playoffs, to just nine points in the victory, although it’s unlikely that Brady’s backup will be seeing the playing time he did in that meeting. Brady’s two legitimate losses to the Bills both came in Orchard Park, throwing four picks in each of those contests (2011 & 2003). The 2003 game was easily the worst of Brady’s career, and whether it was a lifetime ago or not, two of his six career games with four interceptions have come in Buffalo.
- Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter
