Dec. 11 (Bloomberg) -- The undefeated New England Patriots are favored by 26 points over the New York Jets, the highest betting line ever put out by Las Vegas Sports Consultants for a National Football League game.

The Patriots are the fifth team in the NFL's 88-year history to start a season 13-0. They host the 3-10 Jets at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, on Dec. 16.

The spread of almost four touchdowns also is a result of the ``bad blood'' between the division rivals, said Dan O'Brien, an oddsmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants, which advises Nevada sports books on betting lines. Following the season- opening meeting between the teams, the Patriots and coach Bill Belichick were fined a total of $750,000 by the league after being caught videotaping the Jets' defensive signals. New York is coached by former Patriots assistant Eric Mangini.

``This isn't just a media-created sensation as far as the vendetta that Belichick has for Mangini and, allegedly, the firestorm Mangini started in the beginning of the year by reporting the spying incident,'' O'Brien said yesterday in a telephone interview. ``We weighed a lot into that.''

The Patriots have averaged a league-leading 38.7 points a game behind quarterback Tom Brady and are 53 points shy of the single-season record of 556 points scored by the 1998 Minnesota Vikings. New England, which has an average margin of victory of 21.6 points this season, beat the Jets 38-14 on Sept. 9.

Home Games

With a win this week, New England would earn the right to host playoff games until the Super Bowl. The Patriots already won the American Football Conference's East Division and clinched a week off in the first round of the postseason.

``Belichick and his team are very willing to aggressively impose their will and teach people a lesson,'' O'Brien said. ``I think this is going to be the ultimate classic example of it this week. I don't know if any score is high enough for them.''

O'Brien said that while Las Vegas Sports Consultants advised a 26-point spread -- the highest since the company started keeping records in 1975 -- the average opening line at Nevada sports books is 24 1/2 points. Nevada is the only U.S. state in which sports betting is legal.

Belichick said yesterday at his news conference that the Patriots are preparing for this week's meeting with the Jets like any other game.

``We're going to approach this game like we approached the last one and the one before that,'' said Belichick, who last season refused to shake Mangini's hand after the first game between the teams. ``That's all I can tell you.''

Whistle Blowing

Mangini wouldn't comment when asked if he'd ``blown the whistle'' on Belichick for videotaping signals during Week 1, saying it was a league matter. Mangini also said the betting line for this week's game is unimportant.

``The point spread and things like that really aren't going to affect the outcome, how we do or how they do,'' Mangini said at his news conference. ``It's really going to be a function of how well we prepare and get ready for the game.''

The 26-point spread put out by Las Vegas Sports Consultants surpassed its 24 1/2 opening line for the Patriots' Week 12 game against the Philadelphia Eagles. That line rose to 25 1/2 points during the week at several Nevada sports books as bettors put a higher percentage of money down on the Patriots to cover the spread. New England didn't, rallying in the fourth quarter for a 31-28 win.

Before this year, the largest opening line issued by Las Vegas Sports Consultants was 24 points in 1976, when the defending Super Bowl-champion Pittsburgh Steelers were favored over the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Steelers covered the spread with a 42-0 victory.

To contact the reporter on this story: Erik Matuszewski in New York at matuszewski@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: December 11, 2007 00:46 EST