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The (7-0-0) New England Patriots have opened as an astounding 14-point favorite over (3-4-0) Washington for the week 9 match-up. The Patriots were similar favorites against the Jacksonville Jaguars in week 3, which Tom Brady and company left victorious with a 51-17 final score.
Why is the spread so large? Well, the Patriots average margin of victory this season has been 16.6 points, which is best in the league. New England also holds a 4-1-2 record against the spread, which means that they've been a pretty safe bet against the spread this season. We're going to see some pretty crazy odds moving forward as the New England hype train continues down its track.
This will be the seventh game this year where the Patriots have been favored by a touchdown or more (the lone exception was the week 2 game against the Bills). The 2007 and 2011 Patriots were favored by 7 or more in a crazy 12 games. The Patriots will have to pick up those odds in five of their final eight games to match.