Tom Brady and Patriots Underdogs

The Patriots opened as 3-point underdogs versus Kansas City for the AFC Championship, according to BetDSI.

 

The spread marks unfamiliar territory for Tom Brady as the future Hall of Fame quarterback had been favored in 67 straight starts, including the playoffs. The streak had been alive for 174 weeks or 1,218 days.

 

The last time Brady wasn't the favorite came on September 20, 2015, at Buffalo. The Pats were 2-point dogs that day (Week 2) and won 40-32.

 

New England was an underdog in Week 1 of the 2016 season when Brady was suspended the first four games. The team was also not favored in Week 3 versus Houston when the line closed as a pick 'em. The Pats had been favored in 52 straight games, including the playoffs, until this week.

 

Since 2007, this is just the second time New England has been a playoff underdog. The Patriots had been favored in 23 of their last 24 postseason games overall. The lone exception was the AFC Championship at Denver in 2014 (Broncos -5).

 

The over/under for Sunday's AFC Championship is 57.5. This marks the second-highest game total in Brady's career. The only game that featured a higher total was the regular season meeting against Kansas City earlier this year (59.5 in Week 6).