Patriots Host Ravens in Huge AFC Game
The New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens always seem to meet in big games this time of the year. Two seasons ago, they met in the AFC Championship Game and the Pats held on to win a thriller, aided by a missed field goal on the game’s final play to advance to the Super Bowl.
Last season the two met again in the AFC Championship game but this time it was Joe Flacco and the Ravens winning and advancing to the Super Bowl where they would go on to win over the San Francisco 49ers. Will these two meet again for the third straight year with a Super Bowl trip at stake? Maybe. But we definitely will get to see a rematch this Sunday.
There may not be a Super Bowl at stake this week, but there is still a lot on the line, not just for these two teams, but the Miami Dolphins. Miami is torn on who they’d like to see win this game. As long as they can beat the Buffalo Bills, they will benefit by gaining on the loser of this game.
If New England wins and Miami wins, the Dolphins move past the Ravens and into the second AFC Wild Card spot at 9-6. But if Miami wins and Baltimore wins, the Dolphins stay alive in the race to win the AFC East division. A win the following week over the New York Jets and another New England loss to the Bills would give the AFC East to the Dolphins.
The Ravens will come in following a road Monday Night Football game at the Detroit Lions which went down to the final buzzer. Justin Tucker hit his sixth field goal of the game to win it 18-16, a 61 yarder. Tucker is red hot as he has now hit over 30 straight field goal attempts. Not being able to put the ball in the send zone all game long has to give the Ravens some concern going into the New England game.
The Pats come off a tough loss at the Dolphins home field a week ago. Ryan Tannehill led the Dolphins on a late drive to score the go ahead touchdown with 1:15 to go. That was plenty of time for Tom Brady to drive the Patriots back for a game winner, which it appeared he was about to do before he through a pick after moving them down to the Miami 19 with plenty of time left. But the Dolphins defense stiffened and allowed them only five yards more on three plays before stopping them on fourth down.
Sports Betting has the odds on these two huge games:
Miami at Buffalo– Miami is -2.5 -115 and Buffalo is +2.5 -105 ATS. Moneyline has Miami is -140 and Buffalo is +120. Over/Under is 43 with over and under -110. Miami is hot but they did lose to the Bills in Miami. They proved they can win in the cold though two weeks ago at Pittsburgh. We are going to take Miami -2.5 -115 and the over -110.
New England at Baltimore– Patriots are +2.5 -110 and Ravens are -2.5 -110 ATS. Moneyline has New England +115 and the Ravens -135. Over/Under is 44.5 with over -114 and under -106. We are going to go with the Patriots +115. New England does not often lose two in a row. We also like the over -114.
