Patriots' woes boost Bills on AFC East betting futures

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) celebrates after wide receiver Cole Beasley, left, scored a touchdown against the Las Vegas Raiders during the first half of an NFL football game. (Isaac Brekken/AP)

The Buffalo Bills have cooled off since opening the NFL season on a torrid 4-0 straight-up run. However, with the New England Patriots quickly fading from playoff contention, the Bills have bolstered their position atop the AFC East betting futures, climbing to -400 favourites at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.

Buffalo is coming off an 18-10 road win over the woeful New York Jets to snap a two-game SU slide and improve to a division-leading 5-2 SU, but has continued to struggle offensively. One of the NFL's highest scoring teams during their season-opening 4-0 SU run, the Bills have averaged just 14.3 points per game during their current 1-2 SU stretch.

However, the Bills' recent struggles pale in comparison to those of New England. The Patriots find themselves at a crossroads in the wake of their worst home defeat of the Bill Belichick era. With Sunday's crushing 33-6 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, the Patriots are now riding their first three-game SU losing streak since 2002. And with a 2-4 SU record to date, New England is fading fast on the NFL futures at betting sites, tumbling to a +475 second favourite to claim a 12th straight AFC East crown.

But the Patriots can help their own cause considerably on Sunday, when they visit Buffalo as 4-point underdogs on the NFL odds. New England has dominated the Bills in recent years, winning outright in each of its past eight visits to Buffalo and surrendering just 19 total points over the team's past three visits to Western New York.

However, New England faces a huge challenge to kickstart an offence that has scored an average of just 9.3 points per game during the 0-3 SU slide it takes into Sunday afternoon's matchup at Bills Stadium.

Yet another challenge facing the Patriots is the steadily improving play of the Miami Dolphins, who have vaulted to a +650 wager on the AFC East odds. The Dolphins have shaken off a weak start that featured losses to Buffalo and New England, going 3-1 SU and ATS in their past four games. Miami has been dominant in its three recent wins, surrendering just 30 total points in those outings. But with the recent decision to hand the starting quarterback's job to rookie Tua Tagovailoa, the Dolphins' focus remains clearly focused on the long term.

And with nowhere to go but up, the New York Jets have fallen well off the pace to distant +100000 longshots on the odds to win the AFC East. Now sporting a league-worst 0-7 SU record, the Jets have emerged as a short +220 wager to go 0-16 this season.

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