The New England Patriots’ schedule has been set and Las Vegas has been busy setting odds for the opening week of games. The Patriots host the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday Night Football and are considered the heavy favorites by the oddsmakers.
One book, Bookmaer.eu, has the Patriots a 7-point favorites with the over/under set at 48, implying a 27.5-20.5 victory for New England. Another, BetOnline, via OddsShark, has the Patriots as a 7-point favorite with the over/under of 50, implying a 28.5-21.5 Patriots victory.
“The Super Bowl winner is 14-2 straight up and 10-4-2 against the spread since 2000,” OddsShark explains. “The Super Bowl winner is usually an automatic bet for me to start the season but a full TD may tempt some Chiefs money. Then again, the Pats were the best bet of all time last season with 15 covered spreads.”
Since 2004, when the reigning Super Bowl champion started to host the season opener, the home team is 12-0 on these Thursday Night kickoffs. The New York Giants started the 2012 season on a Wednesday Night and lost to the Dallas Cowboys, while the Baltimore Ravens started the 2013 season on the road and lost to the Denver Broncos.
The home team is a pretty good bet in the season opener.
The Patriots have played three season openers and have combined with their opponent for 49, 50, and 51 points, which is laughably consistent and makes the projected over/unders seem reasonable. The Patriots have averaged a victory by 6.67 points, so the 7-point edge is reasonable, too.