Lines, Odds, Picks and Preview |
New England Patriots (-4) at Detroit Lions, Total 44.5
New England has arguably been the best team in the NFL through two weeks of the preseason and will now travel to Ford Field—a place that saw them light up the scoreboard last Thanksgiving Day. The Patriots pummelled the Lions by winning a 45-24 contest as six-point road favorites, scoring five touchdowns in the second half after sluggish start in the first 30 minutes.
Patriots quarterback Tom Brady played his first preseason contest last week after sitting out the team's dominating 47-12 home win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, completing 11 of 19 passes for 118 yards in one half of work. Head coach Bill Belichick seemed pleased with the effort of his team with the reigning NFL MVP in the huddle. "I thought we accomplished a few things," he commented. "One thing we wanted to do was get off to a fast start."
Rookies have also played well through the opening weeks for Belichick, including quarterback Ryan Mallett and running back Stevan Ridley. Mallett is 21 for 33 with a touchdown and Ridley has rushed the ball 40 times for 222 yards.
Bettors have never felt more comfortable in games than playing the Patriots the last two weeks, covering the spread by 18.5 and 30 points.
Excitement around the Detroit area hasn't been this high in quite some time, as the Lions return home off a 30-28 straight-up underdog victory on the road over the Cleveland Browns. The Lions have out-gained their first two opponents by a combined 281 yards. All of the buzz being created around the franchise has many believing that both teams will be playing in front of a sold out crowd at Ford Field Saturday night.
Detroit starting quarterback Matthew Stafford has many believing that he's fully recovered from last year's shoulder injury that cut his season short, completing 6 of 10 passes for 85 yards and a touchdown.
Head coach Jim Schwartz has obviously placed an emphasis on playing solid football during the preseason on his young team, as the Lions are 8-2 SU under his watch. Detroit hasn't fared well in this week's situation though, posting a 1-5 ATS mark when getting points off a SU dog win.
