New England Patriots: Bill O’Brien Not Paying Attention to Betting Lines
By Nick Ziegler
The New England Patriots will be hosting the Houston Texans on Saturday night, and they have opened up as huge favorites in Las Vegas.
As expected, the New England Patriots have opened as huge favorites in Las Vegas against the Houston Texans. Despite a win against the Oakland Raiders in the Wild Card Round, the Texans opened up as 16-point underdogs against New England.
This is certainly an indication of what people think about the Texans’ chances on Sunday. However, head coach Bill O’Brien doesn’t believes it will motivate his team any more.
“What does that matter?” O’Brien said Monday to Sarah Barshop of ESPN.com. “The only thing that matters is what takes place in between the lines on Saturday night. “So no, I don’t really go too much to the Vegas betting line. I don’t think that will really be a good motivational tool this week.”
While the Texans might not be paying attention to the line in Las Vegas, they should be motivated after the beating that they took in Week 3. Without Tom Brady, the Patriots were able to defeat the Texans by a score of 27-0. That game early in the season is certainly one of the reasons why they are such heavy favorites in the AFC Divisional Round.
“Our players are going to walk in here tomorrow with the mindset that they have earned the right to be here and that they are looking forward to the challenge,” O’Brien said to Barshop. “We aren’t going to talk about what went on in the past. … It doesn’t matter as it relates to Saturday night. None of that matters. The only thing that matters is how each team prepares this week in preparation for the game Saturday night.”
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The Texans might not be paying attention to betting lines, but they have to know the huge challenge ahead of them. Playing the Patriots will be a totally different team than what they had to face last week. Houston will need to play a perfect game if they are going to pull off a massive upset on Saturday night.