NFL DIVISIONAL ROUND PREVIEW: BALTIMORE RAVENS AT BUFFALO BILLS

BY ADAM GREENE

It’s a match up between two of the hottest teams in the league as Lamar Jackson brings the Baltimore Ravens to upstate New York to face off against Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills in the NFL Divisional Round Saturday nightcap.

BALTIMORE RAVENS AT BUFFALO BILLS (-2.5, O/U: 50)

Location: Bills Stadium, Orchard Park, N.Y.

Kickoff: Jan. 16, 8:15 p.m. EST

Broadcast: NBC

THE HISTORY

History? Well, there ain’t much. The Ravens and Bills have met up exactly nine times since 1999, with Baltimore holding a 6-3 advantage in the all time series. Considering Buffalo’s playoff futility since the 90s, it’s no surprise that this will be their first ever postseason meeting.

They last squared off last season on Dec. 8, 2019 in Orchard Park with the Ravens claming a 24-17 victory. Lamar Jackson passed for 145 yards and three touchdowns with an interception. He rushed for 40. Josh Allen was good for 146 yards passing and a TD. Devin Singletary carried the ball 17 times for 89 yards.

BALTIMORE RAVENS (12-5)

The Ravens and Lamar Jackson finally changed the narrative with a rootin’ tootin’ logo stomping 20-13 victory over the Tennessee Titans in the Wild Card round last week. Jackson passed for 179 yards and rushed for 136 and a touchdown. He threw one stupid interception that he himself thought was poor decision making. Marquise Brown caught seven passes for 109 yards. The Ravens defense sacked Ryan Tannehill once and intercepted a pass. More importantly, they held the guy that previously owned their paternity papers, Derrick Henry, to just 40 yards. Tennessee picked up just 12 first downs and 209 total yards in the entire game.

BUFFALO BILLS (14-3)

It was a surprisingly tight game between the Buffalo Bills and Indianapolis Colts in the Wild Card round, but the Bills came out on top thanks to some freakish plays from Josh Allen and a Colts team that, for some reason, forgot how to catch the football. I don’t know the final drops total for Indy in that game, but it was significant. It also didn’t help that Rodrigo Blankenship doinked a field goal that could have changed the complexion of the match up in the third quarter. Josh Allen threw for 324 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 54 and a TD. Stephon Diggs caught six passes for 128 yards and a score.

THE PICK

Before last week, the Ravens had won exactly three games over teams with winning records this year and two were against the Cleveland Browns. That is no longer the case. Baltimore is on a six game winning streak and Buffalo is riding a seven game streak of their own. This is a match up of two of the most exciting young quarterbacks in the game and the weakness to me, again, is the predictability of the Ravens’ offense. Of course, knowing what’s coming and being able to stop it are two different things as the Titans learned the hard way. I think the Bills are too well coached, and can do too much on offense, to fall into that same trap. Bills 27, Ravens 20

LAST WEEK

Straight up: 3-3

Against the spread: 1-5

SEASON

Straight up: 173-88-1

Against the spread: 132-130

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