We get a potential playoff preview in Week 6 “Sunday Night Football”. We’ve got odds and will be updating them leading up to kickoff of this Week 6 matchup.
Where the money’s at
Prior to Sunday 1 p.m. kickoffs, sportsbook operator William Hill released numbers on percentage of tickets bet and percentage of money wagered on each game. A slight majority of 51 percent of tickets are on the Patriots, but a whopping 63 percent of money wagered is on New England. At OddsShark, online money wagered is split evenly between the two teams.
Fan picks against the spread
SB Nation’s team sites are running weekly FanPulse polls to assess what a focus group of fans thinks about their team. One question is whether the team will win or lose, and by how much. We can set that against the spread to check out their accuracy week-over-week. The SNF spread has the Patriots as a 3.5-point favorite. Patriots fans are predicting a one-point win, while Chiefs fans are predicting a five point win. I’m a little surprised Patriots fans aren’t a little more confident, particularly as the betting favorite, but the Chiefs are rolling against the spread thus far.
Betting preview
The NFL heads into Week 6 of the 2018 regular season with a potential AFC playoff preview in primetime. The 3-2 New England Patriots host the 5-0 Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday Night Football in Week 6. Patrick Mahomes has passed every test this season, but the Chiefs’ shaky defense faces a tough test in Tom Brady.
The line opened with the Patriots installed as a 3.5 point favorite. Some sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark have brought the line down to a field goal, but there has otherwise not been much movement. The point total is installed at 59, which is the highest in the NFL this season. Given the quality offenses and shaky defenses in play here, it is probably still worth betting the over!
Early money is on the Chiefs and the over, with OddsShark tracking 56 percent of point spread money and 61 percent of the point total money on those markers. The Chiefs remain unbeaten against the spread, but face some notable injuries heading into the practice week. Edge rusher Justin Houston suffered a hamstring injury and was ruled out the rest of the game after halftime. The team also placed right guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif on injured reserve with a broken leg.
This marks the third time in four seasons the Chiefs and Patriots have faced off at Gillette Stadium. They split the past two matchups, both straight up and against the spread.