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Carrie Stroup here and I have your New England Patriots vs. Tennessee Titans live betting. Yes, you can wager from your laptop, mobile device or iPad throughout this game at Sportsbook.com here so be sure to open an online betting account at any time.
Sportsbook.ag Line & Total: New England -5 & 47
Opening Line & Total: Patriots -6.5 & 48
The Titans seek long-awaited payback when they host the Patriots on Sunday, the same team that beat them 59-0 in their last meeting in 2009.
New England led 45-0 at halftime that game, and that was before the addition of its star tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. The Patriots offense gets richer this year with deep threat WR Brandon Lloyd, Tom Brady’s best outside weapon since Randy Moss’ prime. Lloyd joins Gronkowski, Hernandez and dominant slot WR Wes Welker on an offense that threw for 313 yards per game in 2011. The Pats’ makeshift offensive line is dealing with some injuries, but their young defense is a year older and wiser and should be somewhat improved. The Titans need RB Chris Johnson to find his old form, as second-year QB Jake Locker is a flawed passer right now. Their defense will have its hands full against Brady and Company, especially with a toothless pass rush (28 sacks last year) and a secondary that lost both CB Cortland Finnegan and S Chris Hope to free agency. Although the spread is pretty hefty, consider that Bill Belichick is 28-15 ATS (65%) as a road favorite of seven points or less as the Patriots head coach.
Brady has led his team to eight straight season-opening wins, which ties the fifth-longest such run in NFL history. In last year’s Week 1 victory over Miami, Brady threw for a Patriots record 517 yards in a 38-24 victory. Brady threw for 380 yards and six touchdowns in the 59-0 blowout over Tennessee three years ago. While the passing game gets all the recognition, New England is also a decent running team when it wants to be. The Patriots averaged 110 rushing yards on 4.0 YPC in 2011, and that should improve this year with Stevan Ridley’s emergence within this offense. Ridley is coming off a strong preseason where he rushed for 152 yards on 34 carries (4.5 YPC), establishing himself as the featured back in this offense. The much-maligned defense allowed 402 total YPG last season, but the addition of rookies DE Chandler Jones and LB Donta’ Hightower helps shore up what could be a very good front seven that could take pressure off the secondary.
Locker won the starting job over Matt Hasselbeck in the preseason, but he didn’t throw all that effectively, completing just 31-of-60 of his passes for 316 yards (5.3 YPA), 2 TD and 1 INT. Locker will be making his first career start on Sunday, but he did see significant action in 2011, completing 34-of-66 passes for 542 yards (8.2 YPA), 4 TD and 0 INT. For the Titans to hang around in this game, Chris Johnson will have to regain his 2,000-yard form from a couple years ago. Johnson posted a career-low 1,047 rushing yards (4.0 YPC) in 2011, but he did rumble for 128 yards in the blowout loss to New England back in 2009. WR Kenny Britt will not play on Sunday, as he’ll be serving his one-game suspension, which allows rookie Kendall Wright to start opposite veteran Nate Washington in this passing offense.
- Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter
