Game Matchup
On Sunday night in Week 9, the Green Bay Packers visit the New England Patriots in perhaps the most anticipated game of the season. Barring a Super Bowl meeting between Green Bay and New England either this season or perhaps next, this also should be the last time Rodgers and Brady do face off (sorry, we aren’t counting Pro Bowls). That means this is probably the last time that you’ll see a Packers vs Patriots betting line featuring these two.
Brady has spent his entire career with the New England Patriots in the AFC. Rodgers has spent his entire career with the Green Bay Packers in the NFC. Impossibly, the two legends and future Hall of Famers have faced off just once in a game that mattered: In Week 13 of the 2014 season, the Packers beat the visiting Patriots 26-21 behind 368 yards passing and two scores from Rodgers. This season, Brady and Rodgers opened the season as the leading NFL MVP candidates.
New England is a 6-point favorite and is our against the spread recommendation. The total is 56.5.
Forget about how average the Patriots looked Monday night in a 25-6 win in Buffalo. Probably a bit of a letdown game for New England and that meant the season to the Bills players and fans as it was the franchise’s first home Monday night game in a decade. The New England defense played excellent, including its first score in 40 games. That had been the longest drought in the NFL. Then again, it’s not hard to look excellent on D against an inept Buffalo offense.
What was concerning was the Patriots struggling to run the ball without injured rookie tailback Sony Michel (too early to tell if he plays this week) and continually stalling in the red zone. Brady didn’t throw a touchdown pass for the first time in 2018. Again, though, the Patriots were off back-to-back games decided in the final minute so they may have overlooked the sorry Bills.
It’s a good thing that receiver/running back Ty Montgomery is a good player, because if he wasn’t he would surely would have been released on Sunday night by the Packers (more on him shortly). Green Bay gave the unbeaten Rams all they could handle in Los Angeles this past Sunday, but the Rams took a 29-27 lead on a field goal with just over two minutes left.
Still, plenty of time for Rodgers, one of the most clutch QBs in history and who already has led two last-minute game-winning drives this season. Montgomery was told by head coach Mike McCarthy to take a knee on the kickoff following the Rams’ field goal. But Montgomery took the ball out of the end zone, fumbled and the Rams recovered. Ball game. Think the Packers were angry? They traded Montgomery on Tuesday to Baltimore.
If there’s such a thing as a productive loss, though, that was it for Green Bay – especially on defense.
Some books open a next-week spread before Monday night games involving those teams. Those that did for this Packers vs Patriots betting line had New England as high as -6.5. Clearly, that effort against Buffalo helped bring it down. The total has dropped a point.
| ATS Winner | Odds |
|---|---|
| Patriots | -6 |
October 31, 2018
