Getty ImagesThe Ravens have a knack for giving the Patriots all they can handle.
Nevertheless, Baltimore has opened as a sizable underdog in Saturday’s divisional-round matchup at New England.
The Patriots have been installed as 7.5-point favorites at multiple Nevada sports books, with the line as low as seven points and as high as 8.5 points, per line-tracking websites.
The Ravens have won twice at New England as underdogs in the postseason, upsetting the Patriots in the 2009 wild card round (+3.5) and in the 2012 AFC title game (+8). They were also narrow 23-20 losers as seven-point underdogs at New England in the 2011 AFC Championship.
Baltimore knocked off Pittsburgh 30-17 on Saturday night at Heinz Field. The Ravens closed as three-point underdogs.
LOL Ravens will embarrass Tom Brady for the fluke he is. He’s no way elite post spygate. Flacco >>>>>>>> Brady.
No one has it better than us in Baltimore!
CAWWWWWWWW
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Give the points and take the Pats.
Unlike the Steelers, the Pats will actually put in a game plan to pound the Ravens glaring weakness, which is their decimated secondary.
The Steelers tried a balanced attack and failed miserably without LeVeon Bell.
NO Bernard Pollard to injure us makes me pretty happy
This should be a good game
Please come to Boston for the playoffs…
Pats stay healthy they win it all
Just don’t put up any billboards
I bet Brady wishes he could place a Million dollar bet on the Ravens.
Brady is concerned.
The Patriots fear the Ravens.
Road playoff underdogs? Just where the Ravens like to be.
It would be great to see Brady and Bekicheat lose on Saturday
Perfect . We always like being picked as the dog.
Let’s go show Tom Terrific what what we showed Big Jen !
Here comes the criminal invasion of Foxboro. At least Aaron Hernandez will have plenty of visitors this week.
Huge Patriots fan and I can safely say this will be a brawl. The Patriots have a better overall team, but the Ravens always play NE tough even at Gillette. So, I think this can potentially be the most interesting playoff game this year.
Good time to put money on the Ravens
This over under thing is just crap.. on that day is who brings it.. Gambling… ridiculous.
Ravens front d line is going to toss Brady around like an old salad. Pat offense will be stale, D will not get off the field and give up big 3rd down plays to Flaco and run game. Ravens 31 – Pats 13 (mark it) Exit Pats for another year – Division Champs again ready for golf
Please mail your Super Bowl ring, rediculous car, and new contract money to Rob Gronkowski, Aqib Talib Joe Flacco.
Now back to another home win, and no Ravens, it was never a ‘rivalry’
So the Ravens have shown that the Nevada sports books are clueless guesses?
Football is about match ups. Baltimore seems to match up well with NE. Should be a good game.
How on earth would 2 years ago and beyond weigh into anything. That’s for the fans, not the spread makers. Last year the Patriots slaughtered the Ravens, and that doesn’t even matter. What matters is the Ravens beat the NFC North and the Titans and the Jaguars. They haven’t beat a great team yet. If you shed history, which is irrelevant, the Ravens are just the 6th seed. They have a chance, but not a good one.
I don’t think the ravens level of play comes close to what the patriots were doing their final 12 games of the season excluding a meaningless buffalo game. I think it will be a great game because it always is between the two, but the pats have weapons now that they didn’t have in prior years with a 100% healthy gronk and a lights out, underrated secondary lead by revis.
It’s anyone’s guess to how the game will actually turn out, but on paper the patriots take this game fairly easily if they play how they have been.
Patriots 31 Ravens 20
If I can find a book actually offering Ravens +8.5, I’m putting a paycheck on it. No way NE beats that defense by 9+. Brady is the best ever, and they’ve got a good running game to help him, but that Baltimore D is FOR REAL!
They’re not giving up +9. No way.
It’s going to be a Seahawks vs Ravens Superbowl.
#DefenseWinsChampionships
#EmeraldCityDynasty
Pats vs Seahawks in the Super Bowl. Two years in a row for the top 2 seeds to meet. Seahawks by 1.5 — win 31-30 on a last minute int of Brady to end the game.
I saw it all in my Campbell’s Alphabet Soup
Sounds about right.
Not the same Ravens or Pats of a couple years ago. Ravens will play hard and give the Pats a tough game but I doubt it will be enough.
Pats have defense now,the other time they played our D sucked.
I don’t think it will be a blowout on either side. If that pass rush can get to Brady, it will be a great game.
49 rushing yards. 4 of 11 on first down conversion attempts. That Baltimore offense is a juggernaut heh
Theres one big factor that the afc north teams don’t account for that the teams in the afc east know way to well when playing the patriots…………cheating.
New England’s oline is average at best. With a juiced up Haloti back, The Ravens are gonna cause plenty of trouble upfront.
The thing is, the Patriots defense is pretty damn good too. A healthy Chandler Jones is a huge addition for them. Jamie Collins is playing some great football also, and the secondary speaks for itself. Hard not to think they will force Flacco into a couple of turnovers.
If NE can get the protection tight for Brady, all else considered, I think they win handedly.
It doesn’t matter what anyone says or does during this game. The outcome will be decided by the refs as always.
The only game that matters between these two teams is the last one they played on Dec 22, 2013 – Patriots 41, Ravens 7.
2010. Haunting…
Is Gronk playing? If “Yes”, take the Pats.
Not fallin for that trap. I’m doubling down on Baltimore with that spread.
All the Raven fan smack talk will be welcome as the Patriots players will be building up that chip on their shoulder
Especially Gronk – looking at the box score at the last playoff matchup with the Ravens they completely owned him – it’s almost like he wasn’t even there (not that Gronk plays a big role for the Pats at all anyways)
Throw out spreads. This is the playoffs. The Ravens can beat the pats, but will they? We’ll find out next week. Look for Suggs to try and get in Brady’s head during the game. He’s done it b4.
Ravens beat the pats only when gronk is not playing or is badly hurt….
If any team can beat the Pats, it is the Ravens. Joe Flacco is a different QB in the playoffs. As for who did they beat; the AFC champion, 11-5 Pittsburgh Steelers; in Pittsburgh, by double digits. That’s who.
Belichick has never had a problem stifling the one-dimensionality that is Kubiak’s offense…
Lay the points.
The Ravens will meet a healthy and unstoppable Gronk…welcome to your nightmare. Pats game plan will be to establish an effective running attack so Brady can pick apart a suspect Ravens secondary with play-action. I expect Vereen to play a big part in the Pats explosive offense…Pats D should keep Ravens in check, forcing them to kick FGs. Pats offense is elevated and dangerous with Gronk on the field…this is not the same offense that the Ravens faced when they shut down the Pats in the second half of the AFC Championship game a few years ago…offense is better and the defense is solid. Pats will win the turnover battle and the game.
Pats weakness is O line handling speed pass rushers and Suggs and Dumervil are as good as it gets.
New England demolished the Ravens on their last meeting (41-7), where Flacco was harrased, sacked and intercepted twice.
And that was with an unknown NE team.
What will happen now that NE is complete and healthy?
Please submit answer below.
Ravens 27 21
Ravens have to beat the Pats at home and beat Robert Kraft he runs the league.
Pat’s Offense wilted against the Packer’s pass rush, Pernell – Elvis – Suggs along with Ngata and Canty…
Brady and that offense won’t do a thing.
Now it’s up to Flacco and Forsett to get their team some field goals.
Hey ravens fans talking smack. Remember to sign in and comment next week after your team loses. Collins. Revis. Ayers. Jones. Will be in Flaccos nightmares.
Sounds about right.
New England may be better in all three phases of the game. The biggest weakness for both offensive lines is at left tackle for the Ravens. If I am the Patriots I speed up the game, tire Suggs and Dumervil out, and try to expose the Ravens secondary. To win, Flacco has to play virtually a flawless game and the Ravens need to win the turnover battle and the weakness at left tackle will be key. Yes, it is possible the Ravens win but not likely so the spread is reasonable from a betting perspective.
The worry is that the Pats’ offensive line has played like a bunch of turnstiles and blocking sleds lately. Even Green Bay, with its mediocre pass rush, got Brady off his spot on a regular basis. If Baltimore gives Brady happy feet, it’s going to be a long day. But …
… it won’t change the outcome, except maybe for gamblers. The difference between this Patriots squad and those of recent years is the defense. They’re tough to run on. And they have the best secondary in the league. New England will get ten points off two Flacco picks and win this one 27-20. (Caveat: If the offensive line plays tough, disciplined ball, if Josh McDaniels gives them more than five or six opportunities to run block in the first half, i.e., lets the big boys get nasty instead of always having to backpedal, then New England wins it 34-14.)
Late late season the Patriots went into Baltimore and handed them they worst beat down in Raven history, that would be 41-7. They did this with a number of injuries at key positions.
My question to all the Raven fans is how has your roster gotten that much better since? The Patriots roster on the other hand is much improved and has the players that were injured last year (except Mayo), while you’ve lost players to the bug.
It’s true your defense has gotten into Tom’s head in the past, but wait until Joe and crew face a tough Pats D that they haven’t ever faced before. Coach Harbaugh says that the Steelers are their most respected rivalry, I’m sure that will be on the Pats minds. Somebody is going to get a beat down!
This site makes me completely lose faith in humanity.
The last regular season meeting? You know this is the ravens, a team who coasts through the regular season, right?
How about looking at the last three games these two played in the post season at foxborough. Billy cundiff lost one that should have went to overtime, the patriots got their asses kicked in the other two.
You people don’t know anything.
The last regular season meeting? You know this is the ravens, a team who coasts through the regular season, right?
How about looking at the last three games these two played in the post season at foxborough. Billy cundiff lost one that should have went to overtime, the patriots got their asses kicked in the other two.
—
So… the Ravens getting waxed at home vs NE in a game they absolutely needed to make the playoffs…that’s not relevant, but a game 5 years ago is totally relevant.
Makes perfect logical sense.
2014 Ravens: 0-5 against winning teams not named the Steelers
#justsayin
vancouversportsbro, what does humanity and opinions of profootball have to do with one another? As brazzz01 pointed out, it only makes sense when comparing the teams, to go to their most recent match up. The rosters have so dramatically changed since the last playoff match up, that it makes no sense to use that as a comparison on a possible outcome. So you can always fall back on your “humanity” theory.
I watched Baltimore’s dismantling of Roethlisberger last night, and to this Pat’s fan, this game comes down to New England’s ability to handle the Raven pass rush.
I’m certainly not worried about Joe Flacco and the Raven’s offense ….. The Patriots have handled far better passers and offense this year, and while Flacco has his moments – especially against past Patriot defenses – he’s still average at best, and New England’s defense is vastly improved this season. They’ve handled much better offenses than this one.
If New England’s offensive line can learned from the Steelers disastrous performance last night, and make he appropriate scheme, Tom Brady should shred the Baltimore secondary, especially with a healthy Gronkowski.
Gotta respect those Ravens though, even in the friendly confines of Gillette!
The ravens beat the patriots the last couple times because the pats had a bad defense and a bad o line. The pats defense is better with an great secondary that includes Revis and Browner. Also Hightower is a great linebacker and an upcoming star in Jamie Collins. Brady is an Elite QB Joe Flacco is no slouch either. The Ravens CBs showed they can play but they can not stopped Gronk and Edelman. Great Game at Gillette. Pats Wins 27-20 in a close game.
Let it be known throughout all the land that the mightiest army, the Baltimore Ravens; 47 strong vanquished the lowly Pitsburgh’s Steelers this third day of January in the year of our lord 2014.
Go tell the patriots that the RAVENS are coming! Spread fear in the kingdom!
The dirty birds will get plucked, gutted, cooked and served by the Patriots.
The only outside chance the ravens have of winning this game is if the pats offensive line plays very badly. Otherwise, the ravens are going to get completely clown stomped the way they were the last time these 2 teams met and that was with the pats having a mediocre defense and no Gronk to name just a few of the differences. People also seem to forget how easy the ravens schedule was this year and that they lost against 5 of the 7 teams they played with winning records. Who were the 2 teams they won against in that group? Both wins came against the steelers. I think you could make an argument that, if the AFC North had not gotten to play the NFC South this year, no team in that division would have had a winning record. No idea if the pats are going to the SB or are going to win it, that is YTBD but I am certain they are not bad enough to lose to a team like the ravens.