NFL fans: Explain "points spread" to me.

So I'm looking at the Week 6 matchup between the New England Patriots and the Dallas Cowboys, and the line looks like this:

New England -6½ (-105)
Dallas +6½ (-115)

I understand the -105 and -115 reflects the payout one would receive on a winning wager of 100, but I don't know what the -6½ and +6½ do. I assume this is the "points spread."

it means New England has to win by more then 7 to cover the spread

if the win by 6 and you picked them to win you lose

And with round numbers, meaning for example if the line is 6.0 and the favored team wins by exactly 6, it's a Push, which for betting purposes means no win, no loss and you get your original bet back.

Edit: The team with the - number is the favorite, the team with the + number is the underdog.

and it's mean that if you pick dallas, and they lose the game by less than 7 pts, you win your bet.

it is almost like they are starting the game 7-0 dallas, witch is not legal, so you add the point at the end of the game instead.

without this kind of pts diffenrenttiel, the odd would be much higher for new england , like -300 pats and +320 for dallas .

Okay, that seems simple enough. Might be worth 10 bucks. Thanks!

cowboys going win so dont lets that get in your head

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Posted by loonytnt

cowboys going win so dont lets that get in your head

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go pats !!

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Posted by loonytnt

cowboys going win so dont lets that get in your head

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Pssh Romo gets picked off 5 times by Buffalo, Belichick will have something even better in store for Romo, offense will continue to click, Pats by 14

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Posted by babalu2720

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Posted by loonytnt

cowboys going win so dont lets that get in your head

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Pssh Romo gets picked off 5 times by Buffalo, Belichick will have something even better in store for Romo, offense will continue to click, Pats by 14

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14, if the cowboys get lucky, final score will be 14 dallas to the patriots scoring 34 or 38, like usual

Dallas has no chance againts the PAts.

35-21