New England Patriots vs Jacksonville Jaguars NFL Odds, Betting Preview 9/16/18

Sunday afternoon on the NFL gridiron and the AFC East will duke it out with the AFC South as the New England Patriot tangle with the Jacksonville Jaguars. The game will take place at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Florida with a start time of 42:25 pm ET. The Patriots come in off a 27-20 home win over the Texans while the Jags are off a 20-15 road win over the Giants. This is a rematch of last year’s AFC Title game, which the Pats won 24-20.    

Lines:  New England -1.5 … Over/Under 44

A Look At The Patriots

The New England Patriots are again the favorites to make it to the Super Bowl in the AFC. They started off the season on the right foot as they won a hard fought battle with the Texans by a score of 27-20. They will now look to keep it going in this one, but it won’t be easy as the Jags are out for revenge. New England beat them 24-20 last year in the AFC Title game. Tom Brady had a solid game against the Texans in their opener as he threw for 277 yards with three TDs and one INT. Tom is 5-0 in his career against the Jags and he has thrown 11 TDs and just three INTs in those games. Can he keep it going against one of the best defenses in the league, especially without Julian Edelman? He did beat them in the playoffs without his star receiver.

The defense played well against the pass vs the Texans as they allowed them to throw for 158 yards. The run defense was not so good as the Texans rolled up 167 yards on the ground against them. That could be a problem in this one as the Jags have a strong offensive line and Leonard Fournette behind it. If the Pats can’t stop the run then they could be in trouble in this game.     

A Look At The Jaguars

Jacksonville has their sights set on a run at an AFC Title. To do that, they will have to get past the Pats and that hasn’t been easy for them. The Pats have won the last eight meetings between these teams. Still, Jacksonville has a solid team that is led by a strong running game and an excellent defense. They allowed just 324 yards in their 20-15 win over the Giants in their opener. They did allow 114 yards on the ground and that has to be concerning, but they won the game and you have to worry more about the pass than the run with the Pats. This is a top-notch defense and will be taking on a better offense this week than they did last week, so it will be tested.

The offense was not great in the game, but they did run for 137 yards and will now face a defense that struggled against the run last week. Blake Bortles did not have a great game as he hits just 18/33 passes for 176 yards with a TD and an INT, but he did rush for 42 yards. He will have to be better than that in this game. Bortles threw for 293 yards and a TD in the playoff loss last year. If the ground game has success in this one, the Bortles should have a better showing.     

Trends

The Patriots are:

14-3 ATS in their last 17 road games.

7-2 ATS in their last 9 games in September

The Over is 22-7 in their last 29 games after allowing more than 150 yards rushing in their previous game

The Under is 19-7 in their last 26 games on grass

The Jaguars are:

8-3 ATS in their last 11 vs. the AFC.

7-3 ATS vs. a team with a winning record

The Over is 4-0 in their last 4 games in Week 2.

The Under is 9-2 in their last 11 vs. the AFC