AFC East: Football Betting Preview

New England will be Super Bowl favorites in 2008 but NFL betting fans will be looking for another bumper payout this season but which team will rise from the pack in 2008 to surprise the lines makers?

The New England Patriots nearly ran the table last year, but got shocked by the Giants in their bid for NFL history. The Pats set all sorts of league offensive records as quarterback Tom Brady and wideout Randy Moss made for a lethal combination. But while the Patriots covered the spread their first eight games, oddsmakers and opposing defenses made adjustments; including the playoffs, New England went 1-8 ATS over its last nine games.

This season, the New England offense should continue to resemble a well-oiled machine. But the Patriots are not without their flaws, namely the defensive back seven. Nonetheless, NFL odds makers at sportsinteraction.com list New England as favorites for both the Super Bowl and AFC Championship.

The New York Jets stumbled to 4-12 last season, their second under coach Eric Mangini. New York also went 6-9-1 ATS, but the NFL betting public cashed in four times in New York's seven bouts as road underdogs. This year the Jets bolstered their offensive line, adding G Alan Faneca and T Damien Woody, and picked up DE/LB Vernon Gholston with the sixth pick in the draft. But RB Thomas Jones must improve upon his 3.6 YPC, and QBs Chad Pennington and Kellen Clemens will have to do better than their combined 15/19 TD/INT ratio.

The Buffalo Bills sat at 7-6 last year, but three straight defeats produced a second consecutive 7-9 record under coach Dick Jauron. However, Buffalo went 9-6-1 ATS, and 5-2 ATS when the NFL lines listed them as home dogs. The Bills ranked 30th in total offense, 31st in defense, and Bills QBs posted a meager 11/14 TD/INT ratio. RB Marshawn Lynch ran for 1,110 yards as a rookie last year, WR Lee Evans provides a big-play receiving threat, and Buffalo addressed two glaring needs at CB and WR with their top two picks in the draft.

After one win last year, the Miami Dolphins brought in Bill Parcells to revive this franchise, although he'll try to do it from behind a desk. The team he and coach Tony Sparano inherit features an open starting QB spot, a starting RB coming off an ACL injury, and another RB in Ricky Williams who is officially now an enigma. Miami lost six games last year by exactly three points, and they went 3-1 ATS when the NFL betting lines called them double-digit dogs. Parcells used six of his nine draft picks on linemen, including #1 overall choice OT Jake Long.