New England is favored by just 9.5 points in Vegas lines: I'd bet on this

When I saw the Vegas betting lines for the upcoming Patriots vs Jets game I was stunned to see that the lines were a mere 9.5 in favor of the Pats.

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The Patriots are also a much better team than they have appeared to be for the part of the season that has already happened. Ok, so they are only 2-5 and are probably not really expecting to make the playoffs but they also have one of the most hard-fought and dependable programs in all of the NFL and you can be guaranteed that the top brass are not going to take this lying down.

The reasons why I think that this is a very safe bet to go with New England on this is not just because the Jets are absolutely terrible, but I think that they aren’t even trying. It is quite common in American football for teams that realize they don’t have a shot in hell of making the playoffs to intentionally lose in order to rebuild and get good draft picks.

Of course no team would ever admit to this but the Jets, who just released one of their best players despite the fact that they have to pay him for the season anyway, could very easily be considered to be attempting to accomplish precisely that.

New England isn’t exactly the best team in the NFL but they also have a far more dedicated fanbase than the Jets do. Jets fans have become accustomed to losing and likely don’t even tune into the games. Patriot fans still have some hope in them and with Cam Newton looking to try to prove himself beyond his 1 year contract, you can be assured that he is going to be “swinging for the fences” on every single play. He is the number one QB as you would assume but he also has the most rushing yards for the Patriots. No one can suggest he is under performing

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Their are also some situations that could be coincidence but exist anyway. The Pats have defeated the Raiders on their first regular season game of the year and the Raiders, who one could argue were just finding their legs at the moment, weren't playing in proper form. Nevertheless, the Raiders are considered strong contenders for the playoffs at this point and they lost to the Patriots.

The Jets on the other hand have abysmal numbers across the board and have been blown out by nearly every team they have played including the Miami Dolphins, who some could argue are one of the worst teams in the league.

I really believe that this is a safe bet and that the Patriots are going to win this game by up to 20 points. I wouldn't bet the farm on this one but the Jets who are sitting at 0-8 have already become demoralized and may even be getting instructed by the people in charge to lose intentionally.

I'll be putting my money where my mouth is as I am putting $100 on the Patriots to win on the spread. If you like to play it safe, go for the "money line" bet and turn $100 into around $150. Why the hell not?