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NFL odds: 2008 Patriots
By Jordan WaltersWagerWeb.com Contributing Writer
| Sports Betting at WagerWeb Online Sportsbook |
2007 record: 18-1 including playoffs (10-9 ATS)
Offense: There’s not much you can saw about this offense other than WOW! Tom Brady broke the season passing touchdown record in 2007, while Randy Moss broke the receiving TD record. In fact, Patriots games went over the total 10 times in the first 12 games last season before sportsbooks caught on – the Pats were only 1-5-1 against the over following the first 12 games. The offense gets nearly everyone back other than No. 3 receiver Donte’ Stallworth, and Jabar Gaffney should more than fill that role. Really, the only question, assuming no injuries, regarding this unit is whether the offensive line is a concern. After protecting Brady like a blanket during the regular season, the Giants pushed the Pats’ O-Line around in the Super bowl upset.
Defense: There is some definite change on this side of the ball, as the Pats are trying to get younger. The Pats don’t yet know if veteran linebacker Junior Seau is coming back, while fellow veteran Tedy Bruschi put off retirement for at least one more year. The team used its first-round pick on LB Jerod Mayo to bring in some speed and brought in a ton of cornerbacks to try and fill the void of All-Pro Asante Samuel. One bright spot during camp has been Richard Seymour, who has been a monster at defensive tackle now that he’s finally healthy and has lost weight.
Key additions: TE Marcus Pollard LB Victor Hobson; CB Fernando Bryant; CB Lewis Sanders; CB Tank Williams (moving to linebacker); CB Jason Webster.
Key losses: S Eugene Wilson; CB Asante Samuel; WR Donte' Stallworth; CB Randall Gay; LB Rosevelt Colvin.
2008 over/under on WagerWeb.com: 12.5 WagerWeb.com odds to win AFC: +165 (oddsmakers’ favorite) WagerWeb.com odds to win Super Bowl: +275 (oddsmakers’ favorite) Tom Brady odds on WagerWeb.com to win NFL MVP: +300 (oddsmakers’ favorite) Randy Moss odds on WagerWeb.com to win NFL MVP: +1000.
Wrap-up: Will the Pats have a Super Bowl hangover after seeing perfection taken from them by the Giants? Bill Belichick is a master motivator, as he showed following Spygate last year. So he should have no trouble getting this team pumped up to prove that Super Bowl loss, the first one under Belichick, was a fluke. The Pats could have been in a bit of trouble if starting RB Laurence Maroney got injured, but they wisely added depth in former Raider LaMont Jordan. If Brady and Moss stay healthy, this team will again contend. And the Pats should again go unbeaten in the division, so that’s nearly halfway to the oddsmakers’ over/under total.
Best bet: Where will the Pats be underdogs this season? Probably Week 6 at San Diego and Week 9 at Indy. That should be it. So you’ll be giving points if you want to bet on the Pats this year. My best bet is Week 7 against Denver. Why? Because New England has lost three in row ATS and SU against Denver, and you know Belichick will remind his players of that.
Patriots’ 2008 schedule
1 Kansas City
2 @NY Jets
3 Miami
4 BYE
5 @San Francisco
6 @San Diego
7 Denver
8 St. Louis
9 @Indianapolis
10 Buffalo
11 NY Jets
12 @Miami
13 Pittsburgh
14 @Seattle
15 @Oakland
16 Arizona
17 @Buffalo
Predicted finish: 12-4 (1st in AFC East)
