The defending AFC Champion Patriots will seek their fifth consecutive win over the Tennessee Titans this afternoon when two teams square off in an NFL Week 1 battle at LP Field in Nashville (1:00pm ET start time, CBS). New England Patriots at Tennessee Titans Odds are favoring Tom Brady and company to succeed in their quest as they are presently listed as a -5.5 against the spread road favorite. The total in today’s showdown between these two squads is set at 47 points.

New England, which the betting public is backing heavily in this game (84 percent of the spread money is on the Pats), took care of business in the preseason, posting a 3-1 record, but now its official defense of the AFC Championship begins in earnest with a road game at Tennessee. While Gillette Stadium has been a near perfect haven for Tom Brady and his offensive cohorts, the road has been kind as well.

The Patriots are 8-2 in their last 10 away outings and they have managed to cover the spread in seven of those games. However, despite its 4-1 record in its five most recent meetings with the Titans, New England is 1-1 at LP Field with its most recent appearance there coming in a 40-23 victory in December of 2006.

Both rosters have experienced a great deal of turnover since that contest, though.

Tennessee has a second year head coach in Mike Munchak and a first year starter at quarterback in Jake Locker, giving today’s meeting a decidedly different feel. And the Patriots also have a couple of things to worry about aside from a Titans roster that does possess some decent to really good offensive weapons (i.e. Locker, Chris Johnson, Nate Washington, Jared Cook).

First, Tennessee is 3-1 in its last four home openers and last season it stunned the Ravens in Week 2, knocking off Baltimore 26-13 at LP Field as a +5 home dog. Second is the disturbing trend of the Super Bowl loser and how it has fared on opening day of the following season.

The last 12 Super Bowl losers are 2-10 straight up and 0-12 against the spread in the following season’s week 1 contest. Perhaps the only thing encouraging about that trend for the Pats is the fact they were one of the two winners in that group. New England opened the 2008 season with a 17-10 win over Kansas City at Gillette Stadium, but it lost Brady for the season in that game and failed miserably in its bid to cover the 16.5 points spread.

Free Pick: Why fight history, take the Titans +5.5.

New England Patriots at Tennessee Titans Odds:

New England Patriots -5.5 (-110), Over 47 (-110), -240 (Moneyline)

Tennessee Titans +5.5 (-110), Under 47 (-110), +200 (Moneyline)

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