Patriots Favored by 22+
Largest Point Spread for Non-Expansion Game
We don't often discuss gambling here at Pats Pulpit, but the Patriots have just broken another record: The largest point spread ever for a game not involving an expansion team.
At least one oddsmaker has the Patriots favored by as much as 23½ points. In some places, the game opened with "no line," meaning the oddsmakers would not set a point spread, partly due to Donovan McNabb's ankle injury. In others, the spread opened at 17 points and quickly moved to 22, where it currently sits at Yahoo! Sports.
The largest spread ever was Super Bowl X champion Pittsburgh favored by 24 over expansion Tampa Bay, who was 0-12 at the time and finished the season 0-14. Pittsburgh won 42-0. (By the way, the Patriots delivered the inverse perfect season to Tampa the following week with a 31-14 win.)