The Baltimore Ravens look to quickly turn the page from last week's meltdown as they travel to Foxborough to take on Bill Belichick's New England Patriots. Join us for our NFL odds series, where our Ravens-Patriots prediction and pick will be revealed.
Jumping out to a 35-14 lead with 24 seconds remaining, the Ravens proceeded to watch the Dolphins march all the way back to down Baltimore 42-38 in a historic comeback from Miami. However, from the Ravens' point of view, it was an epic collapse that they can't let affect how the rest of their season plays out. Still considered one of the front runners out in the AFC, Baltimore needs to keep its foot on the gas against the Patriots on Sunday.
Although this New England roster may lack the talent of the old Patriots that were led by Tom Brady, this is still an extremely well-coached team that rarely shoots themselves in the foot. After a disappointing loss against the Dolphins in the opening week of the season, the Pats bounced back nicely a week ago with a gritty win over the Steelers. Even if the offense isn't necessarily clicking on all cylinders quite yet, don't sleep on New England.
Here are the Ravens-Patriots NFL odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
NFL Odds: Ravens-Patriots Odds
Baltimore Ravens: -3 (-105)
New England Patriots: +3 (-115)
Over: 44.5 (-110)
Under: 44.5 (-110)
Why The Ravens Could Cover The Spread
Despite the absolute nightmare that occurred a week ago, Baltimore still represents one of a few teams in the National Football League that could bring home the Lombardi Trophy to the great state of Maryland. Without a doubt, it appeared that the Ravens mailed in last week's fourth quarter and it cost them dearly. However, it would not be surprising to see the Ravens learn from the loss moving forward and become a better finishing football team.
In order to cover the spread on the road at New England, Baltimore will need to take the crowd out of it early. Without a doubt, the Patriots fans will be a raucous bunch on Sunday that would like nothing more for their Pats to send the Ravens home with consecutive losses. This all starts with Lamar Jackson and the Ravens' offense, as it will be vital to stay ahead of the chains against a stingy Patriots defense that ranks eighth in the league in total defense. This is very much doable for a Baltimore team that possesses an absurd amount of talent on the offensive side of the ball. Above all else, Ravens fans and bettors can find solace in the fact that the offense should show up as they have scored 62 points through two games of the season.
Not to mention, but if the Ravens' defense can have a bounce-back week by generating some turnovers and mixing up their looks defensively, then that would provide Baltimore with all of the parts to cover the spread.
Why The Patriots Could Cover The Spread
At first glance, this is a Patriots squad that doesn't rely on electric plays and scoring abundantly to win football games but instead tends to try and dominate the line of scrimmage and possess the football far more than their opponents do. You can call it boring if you want, but Bill Belichick is not afraid to do whatever it takes to lead his troops to a win.
While the Pats can certainly cover the spread at home versus the Ravens, they will need a little more firepower on offense than what they have shown in two games thus far. Not that second-year field general Mac Jones isn't capable, but against a team like the Ravens that score a lot of points, he will need to be more aggressive in his reads which may include throwing it deep more often and giving his receivers a chance at some 50/50 balls. To this point, New England's offense is only averaging 12 PPG, which is not gonna cut it against the Ravens.
New England's best chance to cover the spread will come from the running game and a defense that has already proven that they can be among the league's best by season's end. Expect a healthy dosage of carries for running backs Damien Harris and Rhamondre Stevenson, who are one of football's most productive halfback tandems. Combine this with a defense that is holding the opposition to less than 200 yards passing and 100 yards rushing per game and all of a sudden you have a team that has what it takes to cover the spread and ultimately come away with an important victory.
Final Ravens-Patriots Prediction & Pick
Baltimore will come into this one pissed off after letting one slip through their fingers a week ago, while it has yet to be seen that the Patriots can score enough points to keep up with a high-octane Ravens offensive attack. With that being said, the wise pick here is to put your faith in Baltimore to have a big-time bounce-back performance.
Final Ravens-Patriots Prediction & Pick: Ravens -3 (-105)
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