Sunday's early afternoon slate saw a new NFL MVP favorite emerge and the reigning MVP falter — both within the AFC East.
The New England Patriots extended their winning streak to seven games with a 28-23 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Coming into the contest as 2.5-point underdogs, the Pats improved to 6-1 against the spread since Week 4, the best ATS record in the NFL over that span.
During the game, QB Drake Maye — who threw for 270 yards, two touchdowns and an interception — became MVP favorite for the first time this season, showing +250 odds at ESPN BET. Notably, Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen came into Sunday's games as the favorite (+185) to repeat for the award, while Maye was a second-place +400.
During New England's winning streak, Maye has been DraftKings' most-backed player by bets (20%) and handle (19%) to win MVP.
That was before Buffalo lost outright as 8.5-point favorites to the Miami Dolphins, tied for the third-largest upset of the NFL season. At Caesars and ESPN BET, the game was the most-bet by handle in the early Sunday afternoon slate, with the latter noting that the Bills were the most-backed money-line and spread selection for the 1 p.m. ET kickoffs. BetMGM told ESPN that Miami pulling the upset «was a good outcome for the sportsbook.»
Allen threw for 306 yards and two touchdowns, but also lost an interception and a fumble — enough to not only knock him off the top of the MVP odds board, but send him tumbling all the way down to fifth (+750), per ESPN BET odds.
Sunday's results had a big impact on the Pats' and Bills' future as well. Most directly, New England became the AFC East favorite for the first time since prior to Week 16 of the 2021 season, according to ESPN Research, as they show
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