The New England Patriots won the AFC East, will receive a first round bye and have home field advantage throughout the playoffs. They were 5-3 SU at home during the regular season and 7-1 SU in the playoffs. NFL oddsmakers have the New England Patriots at +200 odds favorites to win the 2011 Super Bowl. Be sure to get your bets on the New England Patriots 2011 Super Bowl Lines in early.
The New England Patriots (12-4) enter the playoffs on an eight game win streak where they’ve demolished their competition. They are 8-0 at home this season where they’ve averaged 34ppg and allowed 19.6ppg. In their last three games they’ve averaged 34.3ppg and given up an average 12.3ppg. The Patriots' offensive juggernaut succeeds when Tom Brady has time in the pocket to pick apart defenses with a short-to-intermediate passing game. Brady likes to get WRs Deion Branch and Wes Welker the ball in space and utilize his rookie tight ends, Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski. Both are threats up the seam and in the red zone, accounting for 16 touchdowns. The Patriots need to stay mistake-free. They turned the ball over the fewest times in NFL history (10), and Brady was sacked just 25 times. The breakout running game is good enough to keep defenses honest with the powerful BenJarvus Green-Ellis and shifty Danny Woodhead. The Pats offense is ranked eighth overall (363ypg) with an 11th ranked pass game (240ypg) and a ninth ranked running game (123ypg). The Patriots score the most amount of points per-game (32.4ppg). RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis leads the Pats offense with 13 TD’s.
The Patriots defense is statistically the worst in Bill Belichick's tenure but leads the league in takeaways with 38. It's a bend-but-don't-break "D" that succeeds when it can force teams into 3rd-and-long situations. It has Pro Bowlers at each level, with NT Vince Wilfork and ILB Jerod Mayo stopping the run and rookie CB Devin McCourty, who has seven interceptions, manning the defensive backfield. The Patriots don't put a whole lot of pressure on quarterbacks, but they disguise their looks enough to confuse opponents into making mistakes. They can go deep into the playoffs if their defense continues creating turnovers. The offense will score points, but the defense has shown it will give up points. No one will beat New England if its defense takes the ball away at the rate it did the last eight regular-season games (24 takeaways). The Patriots have a 25th ranked defense (366ypg), a 30th ranked pass rush (258ypg) and an 11th ranked rush defense (108ypg). The Pats give up the eighth least amount of points per-game (19.6ppg). Devin McCourty leads the Pats defense with seven interceptions.
Point-Spreads.com suggests checking out the latest New England Patriots 2011 Super Bowl Lines
The Bottom Line: They will go far with home field advantage. Be sure to get your NFL Playoff Predictions in early.
