NFL Week 7 Betting Picks: Fade Unbeaten Patriots and Panthers on Sunday

The New England Patriots and the Carolina Panthers are the only undefeated NFL teams in action this week, with the Cincinnati Bengals, the Denver Broncos and the Green Bay Packers all enjoying their byes.

The Patriots and the Panthers are both trying to match the others at 6-0, and Carolina has never started a season at 7-0 in franchise history.

Carolina appears to have the tougher matchup of the two unbeaten teams in Week 7, hosting the Philadelphia Eagles (3-3) as a consensus three-point home favorite in the Sunday night matchup at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark.

The Eagles are coming off a huge 27-7 victory against the New York Giants on Monday night, moving into a tie with them atop the NFC East. Philadelphia has won four of the past five meetings with the Panthers both straight up and against the spread and should get them in a bit of a letdown spot following their upset of the Seattle Seahawks.

New England is also at home against the New York Jets (4-1) in an important AFC East matchup, with the winning team putting itself in the driver’s seat for the division title. The defending Super Bowl champion Patriots have won the AFC East six straight years and 11 of the past 12, but the Jets look much improved this season under new head coach Todd Bowles.

New York has covered the spread in the last four meetings, according to the Odds Shark NFL Database, although those were all under former head coach Rex Ryan. Regardless, the Jets defense, led by cornerback Darrelle Revis, will pressure New England quarterback Tom Brady and force him into at least one costly turnover that will allow the underdogs to cover. Remember, Revis was a member of the Pats last year and will hurt his former team here.

One more best bet for Week 7 is the last team to earn a victory this year, the Detroit Lions (1-5), who will play the Minnesota Vikings (3-2) for the second time this season.

Detroit just defeated the Chicago Bears 37-34 in overtime last week and will upset another NFC North rival on Sunday as a 2.5-point home underdog, according to Odds Shark. The Lions lost the first meeting 26-16 at Minnesota in Week 2 as identical road underdogs, but they will get their revenge here by taking the second for their second consecutive win.