The New England Patriots (7-3) turned in a clunker before their bye week, getting routed 34-10 by the Tennessee Titans as 6.5-point road favorites.
The Patriots are now behind both the Pittsburgh Steelers (7-2-1) and Kansas City Chiefs (9-2) in the race for the top two seeds in the AFC, and they head into Sunday’s divisional matchup with the New York Jets (3-7) as 9.5-point road chalk on the NFL Week 12 odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
New England holds a tiebreaker edge over Kansas City due to a head-to-head home victory in Week 6 and visits Pittsburgh in a huge Week 15 road matchup. However, this week the Patriots need to get back on track against a Jets team they have dominated lately in the win column but not against the spread.
While New York has lost 12 of the past 14 meetings straight up, the team is 7-2-1 ATS in the last 10 versus New England, according to the OddsShark NFL Database. Fortunately for the Patriots, they are 16-4 SU and 14-6 ATS in their previous 20 road games, although 2-3 SU and ATS this year.
The Steelers will also visit the Denver Broncos (4-6) on Sunday in the second of back-to-back road games after they rallied for a 20-16 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars (3-7) last week. Pittsburgh is listed as a three-point favorite at Denver and has lost seven of its last nine SU at Mile High. The Broncos are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 as home underdogs too, and they are coming off a 23-22 upset victory against the Los Angeles Chargers as seven-point road underdogs, winning the game on a 34-yard field goal.
The Jaguars have been the biggest disappointment in the AFC this season, but they are 3.5-point road favorites visiting the Buffalo Bills (3-7) coming off their bye week. Jacksonville edged Buffalo 10-3 in last year’s divisional playoff matchup but failed to cover as an 8.5-point home favorite. Neither of these teams has much of a chance to get back to the postseason, and the visitor is 6-1 ATS in the previous seven meetings.
In the NFC, three games stand out from a betting perspective on Sunday, and two of them are divisional matchups. The first two kick off early, with the Philadelphia Eagles (4-6) hosting the New York Giants (3-7) as six-point home favorites, and the Seattle Seahawks (5-5) visiting the Carolina Panthers (6-4) as 3.5-point road underdogs.
The Giants have lost eight of the last nine games against the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles, who crushed their NFC East rivals 34-13 as 1.5-point road favorites in Week 6. Meanwhile, the Seahawks are 6-2 SU in the past eight versus the Panthers. But Carolina has won 10 in a row at home to go along with an 8-2 ATS mark.
Then in the Sunday Night Football game, the Minnesota Vikings (5-4-1) host the Green Bay Packers (4-5-1) as 3.5-point home betting favorites in a rematch of their 29-29 tie in Week 2. The underdog is 6-2 ATS in the past eight meetings between these NFC North rivals, with the Packers cashing as 1.5-point home underdogs in the most recent game.
