The Baltimore Ravens and the Buffalo Bills each made a bit of history during the Wild Card Weekend. The Bills won their first playoff game since 1995. The Ravens won their first playoff game in the Lamar Jackson era. One was a drought of great significance. The other was not, but resulted in the death of a stupid narrative.
Now the two teams face each other at New Era Field in Buffalo in the Divisional Round. The odds at Bovada Sportsbook say that Buffalo is -2 with a total of 50. In what looks like the best and most interesting playoff game in this round, early money was on Baltimore, but we’ve seen this line sway back and forth after the initial move down.
The Bills failed to cover the spread last week for the first time since November 1. The Ravens covered their seventh straight spread to improve to essentially 12-5 on the season, unless you got the worst of the Washington number in Week 4.
Baltimore Ravens
The Ravens and Titans game was not really what we expected it to be. It ended 20-13, as the Ravens fell behind by 10 early and gave up a 25-yard field goal in the fourth quarter. Tennessee was held to 209 yards. The Ravens had 401 yards and 6.3 yards per play, but only mustered 20 points. Justin Tucker missed a field goal and the Ravens only scored one touchdown in three red zone trips. The legs of Jackson were the difference, as he amassed 136 yards on 16 carries. It was not a good day throwing the football, as he was 17-of-24 for 179 yards and an interception. He was also sacked five times. But his legs and 6.7 yards per carry as a team were enough to push Baltimore into the second round. Baltimore’s defense was the star of the show, holding the vaunted Titans offense to just 4.3 yards per play. Derrick Henry found no running room with 18 carries for 40 yards and a long of just eight yards. Ryan Tannehill was 18-of-26, as the Titans only ran 49 offensive plays to Baltimore’s 64. We’ll see if Baltimore has similar success here against the Bills. Many would have said that Tennessee had the best offense in the AFC prior to that game. The ones that wouldn’t would either say Buffalo or Kansas City. If the Ravens are to go to Super Bowl LV, it would mean beating all three of those teams in all likelihood. Step one was a resounding success, as the Ravens got double revenge for last year’s playoff exit and this year’s disrespect.CLAIM YOUR WELCOME BONUS AT BOVADA SPORTSBOOK