Sunday’s 41-28 win over the Chargers is about as good as it gets for any dyed-in-the-wool Pats’ fan. It was redemption punctuated by a stellar performance from a New England offense that was already proclaimed DOA before the game began. All the talking heads, self-appointed experts, and football pundits were gleefully extolling the end of the Brady/Belichick dynasty. But they didn’t count on the fact that TB12 had two weeks to rest and heal from what many suspects have been an MCL sprain that he has been quietly dealing with throughout most of the season.
Many top-notch sportsbooks found over at Sportsbook Review, like industry leader BetOnline, installed the Patriots as modest 4 ½ point favorites but even that line was bet down to four by all the “sharps” looking to make a killing on what they believed was a live road dog with San Angeles.
Let’s take a look at some snarky tweets before the Patriots victory:
Nick Wright
@getnickwright
Chiefs-Chargers Round 3 is going to be a ton of fun. The two best teams in the AFC all year. Can’t wait.
UNDISPUTED
@undisputed
“Even if you say Tom Brady is better than Philip Rivers … the Chargers are the better team. They’re a very good road team; they’re 8-1 — they’ve won their last 7 games on the road. With that being said, I’m going to take the Chargers.” — @ShannonSharpe
Clay Travis
@ClayTravis
I’m on Chargers and Saints today. Rough day yesterday. Means both these bets win easily. It’s science. Get rich, kids.
First Things First
@FTFonFS1
This weekend will be remembered by the game that ended the greatest run in NFL history — the dynasty of Brady and Belichick.@getnickwright explains
Andrew Fillipponi
@ThePoniExpress
The Patriots dynasty is in its final hours. Gronk’s last game. Brady will get beat up. Feel like Christmas morning. Last time we have to take the Patriots seriously as a Super Bowl threat.
Max Kellerman
@maxkellerman
I’d rather have all other QBs in the AFC not named Tom Brady in these playoffs right now, and so would you. #FirstTake
FOX Sports
@FOXSports “This is the end of the Belichick-Tom Brady era… They will never win another Super Bowl.” @EricDickerson believes Chargers will end the Patriots’ era with a win on Sunday.
This is more delicious than a porterhouse at the Capital Grille. Talk about being completely and totally wrong. It’s like viewing election night coverage on MSNBC or CNN a few years ago. It just doesn’t get any better and now our boys will take on the most heralded young gun of them all, Patrick Mahomes, in his own playpen.
We all know that the Pats are a perfect 9-0 straight up at the Razor but their forays into hostile territory have not yielded similar results. New England travels to Kansas City toting a less than impressive 3-5 straight up and ATS (Against The Spread) mark. However, New England defeated KC earlier in the season and now that the offense is finally resembling the juggernaut of old, with Tom Terrific healthy and slinging the pigskin better than a short-order cook slinging hash at your local dive diner, anything is possible.
As of this mid-week writing, some of the best online sportsbooks like BetOnline are dealing the Chiefs as three-point home favorites. That essentially translates into these two teams being a flip of the coin in terms of talent at a neutral site but because the venue is Kansas City, the Patriots will get a field goal head start to compensate for that handicap. If experience means anything – and it does – the Patriots still have unfinished business to attend to and will be moving on to Atlanta against a team to be named later. See you there!
