The New England Patriots were 17.5-point home favorites over the New York Jets when the Westgate Superbook released its first NFL Week 3 odds Sunday night, and it's taken less than 48 hours for the betting line to move up by almost a touchdown.
The Patriots are now 22.5-point favorites over the Jets at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas:
If this line holds or increases, the Patriots would pass the 1986 Chicago Bears as the team with the highest combined point spread for the first three weeks of a season in league history, per Pro Football Reference.
What made the line move in such a short period of time?
Well, everyone saw the Patriots crush the struggling Miami Dolphins 43-0 on the road in Week 2 as favorites of 18.5-points at most sportsbooks. Many people are expecting a similar result against the Jets at Gillette Stadium this weekend, even though the Patriots are 0-4 against the spread in their history when the line is 20-plus points.
New England Patriots
The Jets already were a below-average team coming into the season, and injuries have worsened their depth, particularly at the quarterback position.
Jets starting quarterback Sam Darnold is expected to at least miss Sunday's matchup with the Patriots as he battles mono. This development forced the Jets to start backup Trevor Siemian in Monday night's loss to the Cleveland Browns, and he suffered a season-ending ankle injury in that game. Third-string QB Luke Falk replaced Siemian on Monday night, and quarterbacks with very little experience typically fare quite poorly against Bill Belichick defenses.
This line could get even higher before Sunday as more people pour money into the Patriots' side, so if you think the defending Super Bowl champs are going to earn another blowout victory, the time to wager on them probably is now.
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