Fresh off their worst season in three decades, the New England Patriots have just begun what is likely to be a multi-year rebuild. Accordingly, expectations are tempered heading into the first game of the 2024 NFL season.
Look no further than the current odds, courtesy of FanDuel. The Patriots head into their Week 1 contest against the Cincinnati Bengals as the biggest underdog in the entire league: they are listed as +9.5, meaning that the oddsmakers believe that a even a one-score loss would be a surprising outcome.
No other team in football is even in the same stratosphere in that regard.