NFL Week 6 Lines: Patriots’ Poor Underdog Results Illustrate Free Fall

The Patriots open as 2.5-point underdogs in the desert

The New England Patriots enter Week 6 of the NFL season with a hard truth staring them right in the face: They are a bad football team.

Bill Belichick's team admitted Sunday his team must now "start over," and even that might not be enough. As it stands, coming off two historic defeats, the Patriots might be the worst team in the NFL.

New England not only lost Sunday but it was embarrassed at home by the Saints. The Patriots were favorites, albeit ever-so-slight, to win that game. Now, in Week 6 and reeking of desperation, they go to Las Vegas to take on the Raiders where sportsbooks have made the home team a 2.5-point favorite.

While the Patriots almost never got points during the Tom Brady era, the underdog status has been prevalent in recent years. And when Brady was in Foxboro, Mass., New England routinely beat teams that oddsmakers thought were superior. Not so much anymore. The Patriots are 1-12 straight-up and 2-11 against the spread in their last 13 games as underdogs. They are just 6-19 in those games since Brady left, covering just nine.

Obviously, underdogs are expected to lose games. But covering just 24% of the time is way below the league average. There's also this: In Brady's final four regular-season home games as an underdog, a stretch that covered six years, New England went 4-1 straight-up and 4-1 ATS.

Here are the rest of the Week 6 NFL betting lines and totals from FanDuel Sportsbook.

THURSDAY, OCT. 12
Denver Broncos at (-10.5) Kansas City Chiefs, 51

SUNDAY, OCT. 15
(-4) Baltimore Ravens at Tennessee Titans, 40.5 (in London)
(-3.5) San Francisco 49ers at Cleveland Browns, 41.5
Washington Commanders at (-2.5) Atlanta Falcons, 42
Carolina Panthers at (-14) Miami Dolphins, 48.5
(-3) Minnesota Vikings at Chicago Bears, 47.5
Indianapolis Colts at (-4.5) Jacksonville Jaguars, 45.5
(-2.5) New Orleans Saints at Houston Texans, 40.5
Seattle Seahawks at (-3) Cincinnati Bengals, 46
New England Patriots at (-2.5) Las Vegas Raiders, 43
(-3) Detroit Lions at Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 46
Arizona Cardinals at (-6) Los Angeles Rams, 46.5
(-6) Philadephia Eagles at New York Jets, 42
New York Giants at (-14.5) Buffalo Bills, 46