All good things come to an end, and they did when the Patriots were upended at Indianapolis last Saturday, ending their 7-0 win streak straight up and against the spread. During their winning streak ahead, the Patriots feasted off opponents making lots of mistakes. New England, meanwhile, remained mostly error-free. That completely changed in the loss to the Colts, as mistakes did them in. Now, the Patriots are looking up at No. 1 seed Kansas City in the AFC playoff picture.
PlayAction is new to The Buffalo News' extensive NFL coverage. Each week, Mark Gaughan, who has covered the league throughout his 38 years at The News, distills X's and O's and strategy relating to how the Bills match up with their next opponent. All in about two minutes.
New England upended Buffalo, 14-10, as a three-point underdog three weeks ago, and brings an 8-2 record straight up and 7-3 mark against the spread in the last 10 games in this series.
After opening the season 4-1, and despite its recent slide, Buffalo (8-6) can take the AFC East for the second consecutive season by winning out. The Bills bring a 6-0-1 record against the spread into this fray in games after hosting an NFC opponent, as well as an 8-2-1 against the spread record as an underdog of 4 or less points.
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No surprise here to see the Patriots dip to 1-6-1 against the spread in the first of consecutive home games, and they regress back to the norm starting today.
Prediction: Buffalo over Patriots by 3.
Marc Lawrence previews the NFL from a Vegas perspective. You can follow him online at PlaybookSports.com or @MarcLawrence.
