Patriots Become Top 3 Super Bowl Contender, Favorites to Win AFC East After Beating Bills

• The New England Patriots beat the Buffalo Bills on MNF
• The Patriots move to +750 in Super Bowl odds, leapfrog Buffalo in AFC East odds
• Check out the updated Super Bowl and AFC East odds after Sunday’s games

The New England Patriots have gone from winning streak to driver’s seat.

A 14-10 slugfest win over the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football has the Patriots on the inside track to the top seed in the AFC, while they close in on an AFC East division title. It was their seventh straight win, improving to 9-4.

With the win, the Patriots move into a tie for top-3 in the latest 2022 Super Bowl odds, while leapfrogging Buffalo in the AFC East divisional odds.

2022 Super Bowl Odds

*Odds as of Dec. 6 from FanDuel.

Patriots Commit To Run

The weather in upstate New York was wintery cold, with winds blowing from 25-35mph, with gusts blowing across the field at 50-55mph. The bottom line was both teams’ usual game plans were wildly askew.

DAMIEN HARRIS TO THE HOUSE FROM 64 pic.twitter.com/1Jnt7LPmmz

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) December 7, 2021

For the Patriots, Mac Jones threw the ball three times the entire game, while New England ran it a relentless 44 times for 219 yards. It’s the second straight home game the Bills’ D has surrendered 200+ yards rushing, after the Colts went to work on them in Week 11.

Damien Harris led the attack with 10 carries for 111 yards, including a 64-yard romp in the first quarter for the team’s only TD.

During New England’s seventh straight win, a 14-10 victory in Buffalo, Patriots’ QB Mac Jones completed 2-of-3 passes for 19 yards.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 7, 2021

Harris did the leave the game with a hamstring injury, but Rhamondre Stevenson did much of the heavy lifting the rest of the way, carrying the ball 24 times for 78 yards.

At one point, the Patriots ran the ball 32 consecutive plays. Jones’ three passes in a win was the fewest since the Bills threw two passes in a win in 1974.

A rookie QB.
The No. 1 scoring defense.
The only AFC team with 9 wins.

After 13 weeks, the @Patriots are the AFC's #1 seed. #ForeverNE pic.twitter.com/LUAWPTC4RQ

— NFL (@NFL) December 7, 2021

New England entered Week 13 with +1000 Super Bowl odds, but they’ve climbed into a three way tie for third-best odds with the Cardinals and Packers at +750, pushing past the Bills, who had been fifth.

Bills Bottled Up

The Bills couldn’t get much going offensively, and may have spent too much time trying to establish running the ball instead of letting Josh Allen spin. The big-armed QB did have some throws sail on him, but he showed in the second half, with the Bills being forced to throw that the wind wasn’t a major factor.

Josh Allen : 15/30 for 145 yards, 1 TD pass, 1 lost fumble & a 75 QB Rating; 6 carries for 39 yards (Lead the team in rushing yards)
Gabriel Davis : 2 catches for 30 yards & a TD on 4 targets pic.twitter.com/7KB9DSm19F

— Lee Harvey (@MusikFan4Life) December 7, 2021

Allen finished 15-for-30 for 150 yards and a TD score, while also running for 39 yards on six carries to lead the team. The rest of the Bills running backs combined for 19 carries and 60 yards.

Even then, Buffalo was still in position to win, moving into the Patriots’ red zone on their final two drives of the game. The first ended in a Tyler Bass missed field goal that carried wide right from 33 yards.

The second ended with a turnover on downs, with a pass intended for Gabriel Davis in the end zone knocked down harmlessly by Myles Bryant. Ravens are +1600 underdogs, with fans in Baltimore waiting until later next year for Maryland online sports betting to launch.

WOW. Josh Allen in disbelief after that one. Looked like Diggs had it deep for the TD. #Bills pic.twitter.com/mqYvGwCrOG

— Bradley Gelber (@BradleyGelber) December 7, 2021

With the loss, the Bills fade from +800 odds down to +1000, dropping to the sixth spot in the title odds.

As it stands now, both of these teams are major threats to win a chip. New England has a stout defense and run game, and an improving rookie in Jones, while the Bills have Josh Allen and, save for a couple of duds, a very impressive defense.

AFC East Odds

How the East Can Be Won

Today’s results have also shaken up the AFC East odds, with the Patriots moving into the betting favorite position at -220 odds, a jump from +150. Buffalo has dropped a notch down to second at +165, a fade from their -140 figure entering the Monday nighter.

This battle still isn’t over, however, as a Week 16 rematch matchup in Foxboro looms large.

That's. Our. Quarterback.

📺: @ESPNNFL pic.twitter.com/wm0e16L5js

— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) December 7, 2021

Prior to that, New England has a bye next week, but Buffalo will have its hands full with the Buccaneers in Tampa in Week 14. The Pats return to play in Week 15 against a very tough Colts side, and Buffalo gets the Panthers.

New England controls its destiny here, but you have to imagine their win streak could come to an end, which could give the Bills a shot to get back into division title mix.

At this juncture, I still see Allen as the best player in the division, and he’s got five games to take the East back from the Pats. I like the plus-odds to get there.