LAS VEGAS -- With Green Bay dropping from the top spot after losing at Buffalo, the NFL Vegas Rankings now have a three-way tie for first with New England, Denver and Seattle.
Our panel of handicappers -- Erin Rynning of sportsmemo.com, Sal Selvaggio of madduxsports.com and yours truly, Dave Tuley -- have different teams at No. 1 in our individual power ratings, but when they're all averaged out we end up with the Patriots, Broncos and Seahawks running neck and neck and neck down the stretch, with the Packers still looming behind the top group.
ESPN Chalk
The new ESPN Chalk section is now live. Check out betting coverage for all your favorite sports. Home page »
The Super Bowl futures at the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook also have the top four teams but in a slightly different order. New England, which still has the inside track on home-field advantage in the AFC, is the 5-2 favorite, with Seattle the second choice at 3-1 (due to the fact it's favored this Sunday to take over the lead in the NFC West against Arizona and get in the driver's seat for home field in the NFC), then Green Bay at 9-2 and Denver at 5-1.
But let's get back to the NFL Vegas Rankings, which combine the personal power ratings from our panel and can be used to create your own ratings or to compare two teams to the current point spread, as if they were meeting on a neutral field before factoring in home-field advantage. The industry standard is 2.5 points for home field, but teams such as Green Bay, New England and San Francisco are typically given a full field goal, while Denver and New Orleans are closer to 3.5. Seattle is given the biggest home-field advantage in the league (about 4 points).
Below is a look at the power ratings for all 32 NFL teams, along with Week 16 games where there appears to be value in the current lines. We went 2-0 ATS again last week, with Arizona plus-3.5 and Indianapolis minus-6.5, and we have three more plays this week.
As always, these are not my personal plays or those of any of the other handicappers, but rather the group as a whole. I'll post my thoughts in the Tuley's Take column, which will appear Friday afternoon.
NFL Vegas Rankings
1 (tie). New England Patriots (Power rating: 27)
New England beat Miami 41-13 to easily cover as a 9-point home favorite and was upgraded half a point by our panel. The Patriots are also a solid 9-5 ATS.
Previous rating: 26.5