NFL Week 1 schedule odds: A look at the opening week for the AFC East

It doesn't take long for Las Vegas to get into the act when it comes to NFL odds.  Just after the league released the 2014 NFL schedule, opening lines for each of the Week 1 contests were being established by LVH Superbook and tweeted from Covers.com's Twitter account.

Using those odds, we take a quick look at the opening weekend for the AFC East.  Two of the division's team's are favored, while two are underdogs.  Of course, one of the games is two AFC East teams facing off, so someone had to be the favorite and someone had to be the underdog.

Here are the Week 1 odds.  If you aren't sure how to read them, the favorite team is the one with the negative number beside them.  Think of it like this, one team is starting with negative points compared to the other team starting at zero.  In order for the favorite to "win" - or cover the spread - according to the gambling house, they have to make up that deficit.  For example, if Team A is favored by 4.5 points over Team B (Team A (-4.5) at Team B), and the final score is  20-16 in favor of Team A, Team B would have won in the eyes of the gambling site, because they did not exceed the original 4.5 point deficit.  Hopefully that all makes sense.  Now on the the odds:

New England Patriots (-3.5) at Miami Dolphins

Oakland Raiders at New York Jets (-4.5)

Buffalo Bills at Chicago Bears (-6.5)

As you can see, the Patriots are a 3.5-point favorite over the Dolphins, which I am a little surprised is that close.  With the love everyone always has for the Patriots, and the way the Dolphins ended last season, plus all the extra preparation time Bill Belichick will have for the game, I would have expected a line closer to 5.5- or 6.5-points.  I don't think they would want to reach the full touchdown line, which is a lot for an NFL game; only two Week 1 contests reached that mark - Indianapolis Colts at Denver Broncos (-7) and Jacksonville Jaguars at Philadelphia Eagles (-11).

What do you think of the opening odds for the AFC East?  Do you see them changing much between now and the games?