Tom Brady: New England Patriots QB Seeks Revenge Against the Buffalo Bills

Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots
Sunday, 1/1/12, 1:00 PM EST, TV: CBS
Opening Point Spread: New England -13
Current Betting Line: New England -10
Opening Total: 51.5
Current Total: 50
Odds Courtesy of Bookmaker

Patriots vs. Dolphins NFL Preview — New England Patriots QB Tom Brady will try to wrap up the AFC's No. 1 seed Sunday

Buffalo knows it will face an angry football team to close out the regular season after picking up a 34-31 upset win over the New England Patriots as seven-point home underdogs on Sept. 25. The Bills were happy to snap their seven-game losing streak last week with a 40-14 win over the Denver Broncos as 2.5-point home underdogs. “It obviously feels a lot better,” stated Bills head coach Chan Gailey about picking up a win. “It took all three phases playing well.” Buffalo is 17-16 ATS as an underdog over the last two-plus seasons.

The Bills are 0-9 against the Patriots inside Gillette Stadium and have actually lost 10 consecutive games in this series when playing on the road. Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick will need to play extremely well in order to pull off a major upset Sunday, as he comes off a 196-yard performance against the Broncos. He really struggled during the team’s recent drought, throwing 12 interceptions and feeling the pressure in a locker room that began to question is major contract extension that was signed earlier in the season.

New England clinched a first-round playoff bye and will now look to secure home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs with a victory this weekend. The Patriots have earned the number one seed three times in the past nine seasons, including last season that saw them get bounced out by the New York Jets. Many around the league are questioning how far this year’s squad can go, especially with the league’s worst defense that surrenders 412.1 yards per game. New England is 3-6 ATS as a favorite of 10 or more points the last two-plus campaigns.

The Patriots are led by an offense that’s directed by Pro Bowl quarterback Tom Brady, who has thrown for the fourth-most yards in a single season in league history. His main targets are tight end Rob Gronkowski and wide receiver Wes Welker, tallying 1,518 and 1,219 receiving yards respectively. New England has simply dominated AFC East divisional foes since the 2001 season, posting a 52-15 mark in such contests. That’s the best intra-divisional record in the league by a mile.