Newb question How much value do you put into certain stats ?

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So I am betting sports with a very small bankroll. I have been doing a fair amount of reading both here and at the recommended sites. THis week I was looking at some of the NFL matchups when I began noticing this sort of language commonly being used, (the following quote is taken from donbest.com)

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New England is 1-6 straight-up and against the spread in its last seven trips to Miami.

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I am not particularly interested in this matchup, but more in how much weight would you put into such a statement ? Does how many times a team has covered against another really have much substance ? It seems as though sports betting is very similar to trading in the marketplace as you are always looking for inefficiences within the marketplace then placing wagers to exploit these inefficiencies. Could you then draw the conclusion that the public in the past has overvalued the patriots in matchups versus the dolphins and that this is an exploitable inflated line ? Or is such a statement just another useless statistic ?

Please someone elighten me.