The Buffalo Bills and the New England Patriots are surprisingly tied atop the AFC East standings heading into Week 6 of the NFL season, but despite the matchup opening as a pick’em at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com the Bills find themselves sitting as small 3-point home underdogs after initial wagering for the week.
The Bills improved to 3-2 both straight up (SU) and against the spread (ATS) on the season with a 17-14 win at Detroit in Week 5 as a 4.5-point underdog on the NFL betting lines. Kyle Orton got the start for Buffalo at quarterback in that matchup, completing 30 of his 43 pass attempts for 308 yards with one touchdown and one interception in the team’s fifth straight UNDER result for totals bettors. The Bills opened the season with back-to-back wins over Chicago and Miami, then lost two straight against San Diego and Houston before squeaking out the victory over the Lions.
The Patriots are also 3-2 SU (2-3 ATS) on the season after they blasted Cincinnati 43-17 as a 2.5-point road underdog on Sunday Night Football in Week 5. That win came on the heels of the Patriots’ embarrassing 41-14 loss to the Chiefs in Kansas City in Week 4, and saw Tom Brady return to form by completing 23 of his 35 pass attempts for 292 yards with two touchdowns. Brady went just 14 of 23 for 159 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions the previous week against the Chiefs.
New England is 9-1 SU but just 4-5-1 ATS in its last 10 games against Buffalo, with the OVER paying out for totals bettors in five of the last six Patriots vs. Bills betting matchups dating back to 2011. Going back even farther, New England is 20-1 SU in its last 21 games against Buffalo. New England faces Buffalo at 1:00pm ET at Ralph Wilson Stadium on Sunday.
In the primetime games for Week 6, the Texans opened as 2-point home underdogs against the Colts for Thursday Night Football, with the Eagles opening as 3-point home favourites against the Giants for Sunday Night Football, and the Rams opening as 4-point home underdogs against the Niners for Monday Night Football. San Francisco is 7-1-1 ATS in its last nine games as road favourites heading into its game against the division-rival Cardinals.
Rounding out the Week 6 opening NFL betting lines at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com are Jacksonville at Tennessee (-6), Baltimore at Tampa Bay (+3.5), Denver at the Jets (+6), Detroit at Minnesota (+3), Carolina at Cincinnati (-7), Pittsburgh at Cleveland (-2), Green Bay at Miami (+3), San Diego at Oakland (+7), Chicago at Atlanta (-3), Dallas at Seattle (-8.5), and Washington at Arizona (-4).
