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17 up, 17 down. That’s been the story of the 2007-08 New England Patriots, who have just two roadblocks remaining in their quest for perfection. The first is the San Diego Chargers, who surprised everyone last Sunday when they went into Indianapolis and upset the Colts. Surprisingly, the Lightning Bolts have drawn the early action for Sunday’s AFC Title Game and have been bet down to a two touchdown underdog.
Part of the reason for that has to be New England’s recent struggles against the pointspread. After an incredible 8-0 ATS start to the season; the Pats have covered just two of nine, including four consecutive pointspread losses. In last week’s 31-20 win over Jacksonville, they were never covering the 13-point number.
However, in the face of astronomical pointspreads, New England is still laying claim to being the best team ever. The offense, led by MVP Tom Brady, scored an NFL record 589 points during the regular season, good enough for a 36.8 PPG average. They outscored opponents by nearly 20 points/game. Brady, who threw an NFL single-season record 50 TD passes, is a perfect 7-0 lifetime in home playoff games. WR Randy Moss set a personal mark of his own, hauling in 23 TD passes, including one in 13 of 16 games. Under Bill Belichick, New England is 12-2 SU and 8-5 ATS in the playoffs.
Despite the Jaguars limiting Moss to just a single catch last Saturday, Brady was still phenomenal. He completed a NFL record 92.9% of his passes (26 of 28) for 262 yards and three touchdowns. It was Brady’s 13th consecutive playoff game with at least one TD pass, the second longest such streak in NFL history (Brett Favre – 17).
New England has played San Diego twice in the last calendar year and won both times. Back in Week 2, just a week removed from the Spygate scandal, they crushed the Chargers, 38-14, as 3.5-point chalk.
The Pats came out in a high-tempo, single-back set that spread out Tom Brady's receiving options. This put pressure on the Chargers' secondary, the weakness of their defense, and pulled their pass rushing outside linebackers farther away from the ball, making it easier for the Pats to recognize blitzes. Brady sat back and chose the matchup he liked best without a great deal of opposition.
The teams’ previous meeting before that, of course, occurred in last year’s Divisional Playoffs where New England went into San Diego as an underdog and prevailed 24-21, which cost former Chargers coach Marty Schottenheimer his job.
After a rocky start that had many questioning Schottenheimer’s dismissal, Norv Turner has led San Diego to eight straight wins and covers, matching what the Patriots did during the first half of the regular season. San Diego now actually boasts a better pointspread mark (13-5 ATS) than New England (10-7 ATS).
After getting injured on Sunday against the Colts, both RB LaDanian Tomlinson and QB Phillip Rivers are expected to play. The status of TE Antonio Gates remains uncertain.
San Diego is 7-1 Over in road games this season.
Part of the reason for that has to be New England’s recent struggles against the pointspread. After an incredible 8-0 ATS start to the season; the Pats have covered just two of nine, including four consecutive pointspread losses. In last week’s 31-20 win over Jacksonville, they were never covering the 13-point number.
However, in the face of astronomical pointspreads, New England is still laying claim to being the best team ever. The offense, led by MVP Tom Brady, scored an NFL record 589 points during the regular season, good enough for a 36.8 PPG average. They outscored opponents by nearly 20 points/game. Brady, who threw an NFL single-season record 50 TD passes, is a perfect 7-0 lifetime in home playoff games. WR Randy Moss set a personal mark of his own, hauling in 23 TD passes, including one in 13 of 16 games. Under Bill Belichick, New England is 12-2 SU and 8-5 ATS in the playoffs.
Despite the Jaguars limiting Moss to just a single catch last Saturday, Brady was still phenomenal. He completed a NFL record 92.9% of his passes (26 of 28) for 262 yards and three touchdowns. It was Brady’s 13th consecutive playoff game with at least one TD pass, the second longest such streak in NFL history (Brett Favre – 17).
New England has played San Diego twice in the last calendar year and won both times. Back in Week 2, just a week removed from the Spygate scandal, they crushed the Chargers, 38-14, as 3.5-point chalk.
The Pats came out in a high-tempo, single-back set that spread out Tom Brady's receiving options. This put pressure on the Chargers' secondary, the weakness of their defense, and pulled their pass rushing outside linebackers farther away from the ball, making it easier for the Pats to recognize blitzes. Brady sat back and chose the matchup he liked best without a great deal of opposition.
The teams’ previous meeting before that, of course, occurred in last year’s Divisional Playoffs where New England went into San Diego as an underdog and prevailed 24-21, which cost former Chargers coach Marty Schottenheimer his job.
After a rocky start that had many questioning Schottenheimer’s dismissal, Norv Turner has led San Diego to eight straight wins and covers, matching what the Patriots did during the first half of the regular season. San Diego now actually boasts a better pointspread mark (13-5 ATS) than New England (10-7 ATS).
After getting injured on Sunday against the Colts, both RB LaDanian Tomlinson and QB Phillip Rivers are expected to play. The status of TE Antonio Gates remains uncertain.
San Diego is 7-1 Over in road games this season.
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