The Patriots opened as 9-point favorites as they host the Tampa Bay Bucs in Week 3.
I prefer to pretend that Thursday night’s offensive abomination didn’t happen. It was too wet, the ball was hard to grab, not enough time to firm up the offense, more time was needed to get in tune, [insert one additional lame excuse that also serves as a bad sexual double entendre here]. Whatever the issue, there is a perfectly reasonable justification that will keep me from searching for comfort in the bottom of a bottle. For a few more days, at least.
As dysfunctional as New England’s passing game looked against the Jets, Tampa Bay’s overall team play through two games has been worse. They’ve racked up over 100 penalty yards in consecutive games, their starting safety just got suspended because he refuses to stop maiming people, and their QB is already pricing houses in 31 major media markets. We’re three weeks into the season, and they may have already overtaken the Jets as the team with the most issues (the Jaguars don’t count since they’re not really an NFL team this year).
Even given Tampa’s glut of serious issues, the Pats are getting waaaaaay too many points here. Vegas still hasn’t adjusted to a Patriots team without a reliable secondary target in the passing game. The Bucs are tough against the run, and New England has struggled when they haven’t been able to run the ball. I’m taking the Bucs and the points.
Other Lines I Like
Bears (-1.5) @ Steelers
Pittsburgh has been painful to watch on offense. Outside of the hurry-up, they have zero offensive TDs. How is Todd Haley still employed?
Panthers (even) vs. Giants
The Giants have faced a pair of good offenses during the past two weeks, but they’ve been absolutely gashed both times. They also might be pulling people out of the concession stand to play running back.
2013 Record ATS: 2-3-1
Record ATS since 2010: 109-102-5
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