Colin Cowherd was shocked when Las Vegas released its odds for the NFL’s divisional-round matchups, largely because each of the four games features a rather sizable point spread despite the typically tight nature of playoff football.
He was especially surprised by the New England Patriots being 4 1/2-point favorites over the Los Angeles Chargers, although he completely understands the rationale.
Cowherd believes sportsbooks are daring bettors to place money on the Chargers and that the Patriots will emerge victorious despite Los Angeles holding an edge in several areas on paper. Why? Well, as Cowherd explained Monday on FS1, the Patriots are the best team in the NFL in terms of situational football and that’ll ultimately be the difference in a low-scoring game at Gillette Stadium.
"Tom Brady against the remaining AFC quarterbacks is 14-0… My guess is it's low-scoring, situational football. I like New England in that spot." — @ColinCowherd pic.twitter.com/qMLbRcYAlb
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) January 7, 2019
Tom Brady and the Patriots haven’t looked like themselves at times this season, but they still finished with an 11-5 record and the No. 2 seed in the AFC. This Sunday’s matchup with the 12-4 Chargers undoubtedly will be New England’s biggest test yet, though, thus making the 4 1/2-point spread jump off the page even if it’s justified based on Cowherd’s logic.
