New England at Cincinnati

It's not often you can get a Belichick-coached Patriots team without laying points. Since the Hoody took over, it's happened only 22 times and in those games, the Pats are 15-7 ATS. Expanding a bit further, if you had taken the Patriots under Belichick in all games in which you didn't have to lay a field goal or more, you would have gone 23-9 ATS including 20-7 ATS on the road. If you just took the Pats in all road games under Belichick, you'd have gone 51-26-2 ATS. But "wait" you say, this isn't a typical Brady/Belichick team! Why not? They are finding unique ways of winning, sitting at 4-0. Sure, Brady isn't tearing it up as he has done in the past. But that's the beauty of Bill Belichick - he finds new ways to beat you. He did it for a whole season with Matt Cassel, winning 11 games with an average-at-best QB. This season, he's turned to defense to get it done. Going into their game in Atlanta last week, the Falcons had gone 35-9 straight-up in the Georgia Dome. After the Patriots game, it's now 35-10. Are the Bengals really that special of a team that they shouldn't be an underdog to the 4-0 Patriots? Honestly I think perceptions are out of whack on both of these teams. Cincinnati is not as good as advertised before the season, and New England is better than people think. The Bengals biggest win was a 10-point home victory over the Steelers and at this point, that's much less impressive than it appeared at the time. This team is 2-2 and Andy Dalton seems to be regressing. How long will it take under New England's defense gets the credit they deserve? They are allowing just 14.2 points per game. Across the field from Belichick is Marvin Lewis who is just 30-42 ATS following a loss and 9-21 ATS vs. teams that allow under 17 points per game. Take the better QB and better coach in a pick 'em game.