Week 2 Patriots vs Bills: New England Now 1-Point Underdogs

The New England Patriots are now underdogs according to oddsmakers, with the host Buffalo Bills most recently marked the 1-point favorites.

According to Oddsshark.com, the Patriots opened as 1.5-point favorites, but apparently Rex Ryan's bravado has been working. With the over/under set at 44, the gambling experts believe the final score to be a Bills victory to the tune of 22.5 to 21.5.

Bill Belichick and the Patriots have had success as underdogs with quarterback Tom Brady at the helm, posting a 31-21 record since 2001, so New England still manages to win even if the odds aren't in their favor.

When looking specifically at games where the Patriots are a 1- or 2-point underdog, Brady holds a 6-3 record, including a 37-22 week 6 victory in Buffalo last season. Here are the losses:

2009 Monday Night Football debacle against the New Orleans Saints, which led Bill Belichick to say, "I just can't get this team to play the way we need to play. It's so frustrating."

2009 4th and 2 against the Indianapolis Colts, in a unique situation where the Patriots covered the 1.5 spread, but still lost the game 35-34.

2003 a 31-0 loss at the hands of the Buffalo Bills, where Belichick reportedly lost the locker room after sending away safety Lawyer Milloy.

All three were landmark losses in Patriots franchise history. The victories are far less memorable, whether it was the 37-22 demolition of the Bills in 2014 or the 41-7 spanking of the Ravens before the 2013 playoffs, but there is one important game that happened in that same 2003 season.

2003 Bill Belichick takes the intentional safety and a 26-23 deficit in week 9 against the Denver Broncos for the sake of field position. Tom Brady capped off the subsequent drive with a game winning touchdown pass to David Givens.

Oh, and there was one more important game where the Patriots were 1.5-point underdogs: A 2001 game against the New York Jets that resulted in Tom Brady getting a chance to play and starting the career of the NFL's greatest quarterback of all time.

Crazy things happen when the Patriots are small underdogs.