Pats:

In NFL Week 14 Early Advanced betting lines, the Westgate in Las Vegas has initially installed the New England Patriots as 3.5 point road favorites over the Houston Texans. Jacksonville is a 1-point favorite over Indy, the Broncos are favored by 6.5 over Oakland, and Carolina is an 8-point favorite over Atlanta.

For those of you living in the southeastern United States that don’t have the Sunday Ticket, it’s another Sunday off to the local sports bar if you want to catch the Pats; for the rest of the country, you will be able to see the Patriots from the comfort of your living room couch.

Unbeaten Carolina is just a 3½ point favorite against a struggling Saints defense in New Orleans; Miami is favored by 6½ (granted, it is against the Ravens); Minnesota is a 1½ point home underdog against Seattle; and Dallas was listed as a three-point road favorite at Washington – though to be fair, this was prior to Tony Romo’s injury on Thanksgiving Day. It is also interesting to note that there are more favorites playing on the road (nine) than home favorites (just six).

It is incredible the number of statistical categories that these two teams both rank in the top ten, top five, or best overall in – especially when you compare the Patriot offense versus the Bronco defense.

While Sunday once again leaves NFL fans with a dearth of games between two quality teams, at least there are several competitive matchups involving a pair of clubs fighting for a playoff berth. Leading up to Sunday night’s highly anticipated game between the Patriots and Broncos, the only afternoon game between a pair of teams with winning records is Minnesota at Atlanta. However, with the exception of ESPN’s odious foistering of Baltimore at Cleveland Monday night, almost all of the of the other games should be competitive and entertaining; the Steelers-Seahawks, Bills-Chiefs and Bucs-Colts are among those that could be compelling games well worth watching.

The meeting was expected to be a typical Brady – Manning shootout when the schedule was released, but expect this one to be much more defensive oriented. The Patriots will have to be creative on offense with all the injuries against the Denver defense.

The Patriots host the 5-4 Buffalo Bills in a battle between the longtime division rivals on Monday night. A victory by the Pats all but mathematically clinches the AFC East for New England; it also would keep the Pats in the number one seed in the AFC, setting up a crucial game next week at 7-2 Denver. Buffalo currently owns the sixth seed in the AFC playoff picture, but needs a win to stay ahead of six other teams that are no more than one win behind them.

With another 100-yard game in 2015, Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski would tie Tony Gonzalez and Jimmy Graham for six 100-yard games in a season

For the second straight week a game involving the Patriots shapes up to be one of, if not the most compelling matchup of the week. This is one of only three week 11 games (Packers-Vikings, Bengals-Cardinals) between two teams with winning records. It will also be a time where New England fans can “welcome” ESPN to Gillette Stadium and let them know how they feel about their integrity and unbiased reporting

As a by-product of the league’s quest for parity, NFL week ten sadly has just one game between two teams with winning records: the New England Patriots at New York Giants in a late afternoon tilt on Sunday. Here is a look at all of the week ten games.

The Giants defense ranks 30th or worse in total yardage, passing yardage, third downs converted, first downs, yards per play, yards per drive, passes completed, sacks and sack yardage.

The Patriots must win the turnover battle against the Giants defense. The G-Men have forced 21 turnovers and sit at +12 in TO differential, tops in the NFL.

The good news for out of town Pats fans is that New England Patriots’ game will receive far greater broadcast distribution in week ten than it did in week nine versus Washington. The bad news is that even though it is a late game, is back on CBS and the network has this week’s doubleheader, the game still won’t get virtually universal distribution – like Denver at Indianapolis did last week, or Seattle at Dallas did in week eight, or Cowboys at Giants did in week seven. CBS has assigned their top broadcast team of Jim Nantz, Phil Simms and Tracy Wolfson to cover the game between New England and New York. The Patriots-Giants game will be broadcast pretty throughout most all of the eastern United States, while Kansas City at Denver will be aired throughout all of the continental western states.

The Patriots reach the halfway point of 2015 at 8-0, for the 2nd time in team history.. Health is the only obstacle standing in their path and a deep run.

The Patriots routed Washington 27-10 on Sunday as Tom Brady and LaGarrette Blount led the offense but the team lost RB Dion Lewis to knee injury