2016 AFC East NFL Betting Preview: Patriots Top Odds over Jets, Bills, Dolphins

Thanks to that recent court ruling, the New England Patriots now face the real prospect of playing the first quarter of this NFL season without starting quarterback Tom Brady. But while New England's odds to win Super Bowl LI took a slight jump at the sportsbooks, the betting public as a whole seems to think the Patriots can survive his absence.

As for the rest of the AFC East, simply put, doubt remains. Here's a quick look at the updated odds to win Super Bowl LI at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark for members of the AFC East.

New England Patriots (+900)

Brady is now slated to miss the first four games of this season: a road date at Arizona and home games against Miami, Houston and Buffalo. The contest against the Cardinals will be tough regardless of who plays quarterback, but the other three are winnable even without Brady on the field. And there's always the chance Brady's lawyers will get him off again.

New York Jets (+4000)

The Jets just missed the playoffs last year at 10-6 straight up and managed to make a bit of money by going 8-6-2 against the spread. But as of this writing, they have little idea of who will start the season behind center because last year's starter, Ryan Fitzpatrick, is playing hardball with contract negotiations. Do the Jets re-sign a 33-year-old quarterback who's unlikely to match last year's performance? Do they give the job back to Geno Smith? Or do they go with the inexperienced Bryce Petty or rookie Christian Hackenberg?

Buffalo Bills (+4000)

The Bills missed the playoffs again last year (that's 16 seasons in a row), although Rex Ryan and his troops did get the satisfaction of knocking the Jets out of the race with a Week 17 victory. Buffalo also went 4-2 SU and 4-1-1 ATS in AFC East play. And after ranking 19th in total defense last season, the Bills used their top three picks in the recent draft to address that side of the ball.

Miami Dolphins (+5000)

The Dolphins devolved into one of the biggest disappointments in the league last year, going just 6-10 SU and 5-11 ATS overall, 1-5 both SU and ATS in AFC East play. And many of those losses were of the noncompetitive variety, as this team just gave up at times. Now, the Dolphins move forward with new head coach Adam Gase, tempered expectations and perhaps some betting value.