NFL Week 5 Odds: Patriots, Titans Betting Trends Following Bye Week

The Tennessee Titans (1-2) and New England Patriots (3-0) are the first two NFL teams to return from their byes in Week 5, and neither one of them have performed particularly well following the break in recent years.

For the Titans, their 1-4 mark both straight up and against the spread in their past five games after a bye is not shocking.

After all, Tennessee is coming off a brutal 2-14 campaign in 2014 and has not enjoyed a winning season since 2011. The Titans already have half as many wins this year through the first three games and nearly upset the Indianapolis Colts before their bye.

Head coach Ken Whisenhunt is also in just his second year with the team, so his approach to bye weeks is likely much different than his predecessor, Mike Munchak. This week, they host the Buffalo Bills (2-2) as small home underdogs.

However, the defending Super Bowl champion Patriots going 1-4-1 ATS in their last six games following a bye, according to the Odds Shark NFL Database, is a bit surprising.

Keep in mind, they did win four of those games SU, although last season’s 42-20 rout of the Colts in Indy in Week 11 as three-point road underdogs was the first time they covered the spread off a bye since 2008, when they beat the San Francisco 49ers 30-21 as three-point road favorites.

New England lost on the road to the Carolina Panthers and Pittsburgh Steelers after byes in 2013 and 2011, respectively, and the other three games were won by a combined 17 points.

However, that win over the 49ers ended an impressive run in which the Patriots covered five of six—and came in the midst of an eight-game winning streak—after the bye week.

So maybe this recent rough stretch for the Patriots should not be taken too seriously heading into Sunday’s road game against the Dallas Cowboys (2-2), especially since their opponent will be playing without starting quarterback Tony Romo.

The latest NFL betting odds have New England as a consensus 8.5-point favorite at Dallas, and you can bet head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady will be ready to roll.