Patriots Loss Ends Historic Underdog Teaser Streak in NFL Playoffs
The New England Patriots were absolutely trounced by the Buffalo Bills on Saturday night of wild card weekend, losing by a final score of 47-17.
The game was historic for a number of reasons. It was the first time in NFL playoff history that a team didn't punt, kick, or turnover the ball on any of their offensive possessions. The Bills scored a touchdown on all seven drives before finish the game off with kneeldowns on their final possession.
The game was also the largest playoff loss for the Patriots under Bill Belichick, and it served as the second largest loss, regular season or postseason, in Belichick's career as the Patriots' head coach.
From a betting standpoint, the loss represented the end of a historic streak when it comes to teasers.
Patriots' Loss Ends 19-game Playoff Teaser Streak
With the Patriots 30-point loss as a 4.5-point underdog (via WynnBET), it ended the streak of 19-straight NFL Wild-Card games in which the underdog cashed in a teaser bet.
Underdogs in the NFL’s wild-card round had cashed in 19 straight games when placed in a teaser.
— Ben Fawkes (@BFawkes22) January 16, 2022
That streak ended last night with the New England Patriots getting routed 47-17.
A typical teaser bet moves the line six points. For example, if you teased the Patriots on Sunday night, you would've moved the line from New England +4.5 to +10.5, meaning if they lost by 10 points or fewer, the streak would've continued.
Unfortunately for Patriots backers, they weren't even close.
I wrote earlier this week about how dominant underdogs have been in the Wild Card round in recent history, but heading into Sunday's games, they're 0-2 both straight up and against the spread. The Raiders (+6), would have at least covered in a six-point teaser against the Bengals.
We'll see if Sunday will be a day for the 'dogs.