Intriguing Bets Heading to the 2017 NFL Season

New England Patriots NFL Postseason Betting Analysis

Written by on January 5, 2017

Tom Brady and the New England Patriots (14-2 SU, 13-3 ATS) will hit the postseason riding a five-game winning streak and haven’t lost a game since finding out they would be without Pro Bowl tight end Rob Gronkowski for the remainder of season six weeks ago. If you want to know what likely lies in online betting store for the Patriots as they get set for the 2016 playoffs, then let’s get started.

New England Patriots NFL Postseason Betting Analysis

Super Bowl 51 Odds (8/5)

AFC Championship Odds (5/9)



Why Bet on the Patriots

Look, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that there are a bunch of great reasons to bet on the Patriots this postseason. Let’s start with their offense. The New England Patriots finished the regular season ranked a stellar fourth in total offense (386.2 ypg), fourth in passing (269.2 ypg) seventh in rushing (117.0 ypg) and third in scoring at 27.6 points per game.

Veteran running back LeGarrette Blount has rushed for a stellar 1,161 yards and 18 touchdowns while Tom Brady passed for over 3,554 yards with 28 touchdowns and just two interceptions despite missing the first four games of the season. In addition to that, another great reason to bet on New England this postseason is the fact that the Pats were equally impressive on defense, despite not having any ‘big-name’ players on that side of the ball.

New England finished the regular season ranked sixth in total defense (326.4 ypg), 12th against the pass (237.9 ppg), third against the run (88.6 ypg) and a stellar first in points allowed (15.6 ppg). New England has limited each of its last three opponents to 14 points or less while holding the Jets and Broncos to a paltry three points during the span.

Last but not least, another good reason to bet on the Pats this postseason is that New England has a Hall of Fame quarterback in Tom Brady and head coach Bill Belichick that both know what it takes to win games in the postseason no matter the circumstance.

Why Bet Against the Patriots

The Patriots look very daunting and don’t have many weaknesses, but there are a couple of reasons why you should bet against them this postseason.

First and foremost, while the loss of the gifted Rob Gronkowski has not hurt them as of yet, I believe it very well could if New England is forced to face a powerful defensive team this postseason. The fact of the matter is that having Gronk on the field makes life easier on all of New England’s other offensive skill position players, while placing a great amount of pressure on opposing defenses.

In addition to that, the Patriots haven’t been overly impressive in ranking 12th against the pass this season (326.4 ypg) and could get upset if they face a team with a powerful aerial attack like the Pittsburgh Steelers. Outside of that and the fact that New England failed to cover the spread in its only game following a Bye this season, it looks like the Patriots are going to be extremely difficult to dispatch this postseason.