Captain Fear
Well-known member
- Mar 20, 2019
- 2,417
- 0
Getty Images
It’s a season of new things for Tom Brady.
He’s playing for the Buccaneers after two decades with the Patriots, so he’s getting used to a new coach, new teammates and new conference as the regular season gets underway. He’ll also get the rare chance to play the role of regular season underdog.
The Saints are favored by 3.5 points in their Week One matchup with the Bucs and, assuming that the Saints remain the favorites, that would mark the first time in a long time that a team quarterbacked by Brady is an underdog in the regular season.
ESPN Stats and Info pegs a Week Two game against the Bills in 2015 as the last time Brady’s team wasn’t favored. That makes 74 straight starts for Brady as a favorite, although Pro Football Reference pushes his run even longer. They have the Patriots’ 2014 Week 13 game against the Packers as the last time Brady’s side was an underdog. The Packers won that game and covered the three-point spread, but Brady and the Patriots beat the Bills in the 2015 contest.
It’s been a long run as a favorite in either case and a new streak seems likely to start when the Bucs host the Panthers in Week Two.