Can New England Take The AFC In 2012?

In life, there are only two guarantees—death and taxes. Actually, add “the New England Patriots being favored to win the AFC East and the Super Bowl” to that list. At least when it comes to odds on NFL games.

As sure as the sun will rise in the morning, odds makers and those who love to bet on football love the Pats for two specific reasons—Bill Belichick and Tom Brady. As long as the head coach and QB find themselves working together for the good of their team and the NFL point spreads bettors who back them, the New England Patriot are pretty much guaranteed to be contenders.

That’s been the rule in the past. And that’s likely the rule leading into the 2012 season. Only a few weeks before the 2012-13 Season kicks off, the Pats show listed at +500 to win the coming Super Bowl XLVII, and at +300 to win the AFC.

But not everything’s amazing—and if you’re into online sports gambling, you need to read on. Because if you dig a bit deeper into the Patriots’ defense, a few but still serious problems rise to the service.

The Patriots had some issues in the pass rush, so we were as surprised as anyone to see them let rusher Mark Anderson sign with the Bills this season. That means they’ll need to not only balance his loss, but they’ll have to face the reality of facing Anderson twice this season.

And if you love to bet on NFL games, you’re probably well aware that the Patriots need to improve their linebackers. They’ve had a lot of problems in the middle of the field, but we’re hoping some changes they’ve made in the off-season address that.

With all that said, the Patriots have a solid offense, and the quality of its offense isn’t necessarily dependent on Brady. Most online sports betting fans agree. In fact, you can replace the entire offense with nothing but running backs and you’ll still have one of the most solid offenses in the entire league. That has a lot to do with Belichick’s ability to build an offense around the players on the roster.

So, even with some shortcomings on defense, we still think sports bettors who love to bet on NFL games will take the New England Patriots to win the AFC East. But unless they work through some of their issues, their fortunes could change when it comes to taking the AFC itself.

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