The Patriots are underdogs against Carolina

Photo from Sports Illustrated

Yep, you heard me. The Patriots are opening as underdogs for the match up against the Carolina Panthers on Monday Night Football, according to CSNNE. Las Vegas had them at 1.5 point underdogs when the betting opened, CSNNE reports. That has mainly to do with the fact that Carolina is one of the hottest teams in the lague right now and are coming off a 10-9 win over a possible Super Bowl contender in San Francisco and the Patriots only 2 losses so far have come on the road.

The Patriots recent history suggest otherwise, though. Here are some stats to throw back at Vegas suggesting the Pats should not be underdogs in this game, per CSNNE:

The Pats are 10-3 coming off a bye under Bill Belichick and have won 9 of their last 10. They are also 5-1 on the road after a bye week.

The Pats have also been dominant in the 2nd half of the season. Since 2010, the Patriots are 24-1 in the 2nd half and 83-21 overall under Bill Belichick.

How about those numbers, Vegas? Underdogs they may be, but I still like their chances to halt Carolina's winning streak, especially coming off a bye and their best performance of the season. Not saying it'll be easy, but the Patriots are more than up for the challenge because the numbers show that they love playing after a bye week.

Twitter - @ConorJF1016