NFL Betting: The Brady Effect and New England’s Updated Super Bowl Odds
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- Category: NFL
- Created: Saturday, 05 September 2015 18:47
Big news in the NFL this week with Tom Brady’s four-game suspension nullified by the courts, and now the defending Super Bowl champs will have their start player under center on Thursday night as they open the NFL regular season at home against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
With the suspension looming, the Patriots were down to a three-point favorite in that game vs. the Steelers (Pittsburgh will be without RB Bell, who was also suspended). But now with Brady back in the lineup the Pats are currently a seven-point home favorite at the online sportsbooks.
Not having to lose their starting quarterback also had a drastic change on New England’s Super Bowl odds.
Prior to the breaking news, New England was right around a 10:1 bet to repeat as champs. After the suspension was lifted, New England surged to a +650 payout – now the favorite to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl and only behind NFC teams Green Bay and Seattle to win it all.
This isn’t the first time New England has been accused of bending the rules according to several online sports betting sites and sports handicappers, but they sure seem to not take kindly to such allegations. During the infamous spygate accusations back in 2007, the Pats showed no mercy on the field with a perfect 16-0 regular season (eventually lost to the New York Giants in the Super Bowl), often times running up the score.
The big margins of victory almost seemed like New England was making a statement. Ten of New England’s 16 regular season victories came by 21 or more points. We won’t have to wait long to see if the Pats can use deflate gate as a similar motivational tactic this year.
After their Thursday tilt with Pittsburgh, the Patriots visit Buffalo and then host Jacksonville before their bye in Week Four. Back-to-back road games against Dallas and Indianapolis will be a pretty good litmus test to see where New England stands in terms of a Super Bowl contender.
One final thought to keep in mind; the NFL has appealed the ruling and it is possible (although unlikely at this point) that Brady could still be suspended for some amount of time this season. If that happens then keep an eye on their Super Bowl odds to potentially drop, and remember that the online sportsbooks put a four-point value on Tom Brady being on the field as opposed to his backup.
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