Saturday night in the AFC Divisional round brings us an intriguing matchup between the Baltimore Ravens and the Tennessee Titans. The Baltimore Ravens ended 2019 on such an incredible high, but the Titans have started 2020 in the best way any AFC playoff team could: by knocking off the New England Patriots on the road. Both of these teams have dominated opponents on the ground this season, and this game should be a fantastic clash of two offenses who want to run the ball first and foremost. Can the Ravens continue their seemingly inevitable march to the Super Bowl, or will the Titans pull off a second upset in as many weeks? Let’s take a look at how our NFL betting team sees this Titans vs. Ravens AFC Divisional matchup turning out with their picks and analysis.
Location: M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore
Time: 8:15 pm EST
Spread: Ravens -9
O/U: 47
This game has been somewhat strange. Initially, the line moved in favor of the Titans, but in the last 24 hours, it has moved back towards the Ravens. Now the line is creeping up towards the 10-point mark in some places and could find itself there in most places by kickoff.
Interestingly, this game has actually seen the total moving down. With both teams likely to lean heavy on the run, the early money has been coming in on the under. With that current number sitting at over 80% of the money on the under, it will be interesting to see how much further this line shifts.
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Bet predictions from Ben Rolfe
This game has gone through two stages since Saturday night. Initially, there was a swell of confidence around the Titans coming off their victory in Foxborough, but measured analysis has led people to start backing the Ravens again. For me, the Patriots may not have won last week, but they demonstrated how you beat this Titans team. Keep two safeties deep to negate the play-action passing and then attempt to stop Derrick Henry. Henry will have his moments, as he did against New England, he is too good not to.
However, the Ravens defense has been extremely stout through the second half of the season. Across 2019 as a whole, the defense ranked fourth in DVOA and third against the rush. The Titans will struggle to score much more on offense than they did last week, and the Ravens should have no trouble topping that. The Ravens should win this by at least a touchdown, and the Ravens, with their first ranked offense by DVOA, should get close enough to 30 points to put it out of the question. However, I struggle to see the Ravens scoring close to 40 or the Titans getting over 20, so I am going to tease this total up and take the under.
1u – Teaser: Ravens -3 & Total Under 53.5 | -120
Bet predictions from Ryan Gosling
The Ravens defense has held four straight opponents to 110 rushing yards or less, and their secondary has been awesome since giving up 268 yards through the air to New England back in early November. I think both of these teams grind out some possessions with plenty of runs, and I think there could be an early feeling out process as well.
2u – Teaser: Chiefs -1.5 & Ravens -2 | -120
Bet predictions from Jason Sarney
Tennessee went into New England, and thanks to Derrick Henry, game management from Ryan Tannehill, and timely defense, they have earned a chance to travel to Baltimore. Lamar Jackson awaits, and this is a traditional thrower versus runner, but ironically, each quarterback is arguably quite good at what they aren’t “known for.”
As for the overall outcome, this is a scoring bonanza waiting to happen with offense all over the place. Tannehill will once again keep it close and could challenge to win the game, but the best player on the field is a Raven. Lamar Jackson continues his dream season, and Ryan Tannehill’s ends.
1u – Tennessee Titans +9.5 | -107
1u – Over 46.5 Total Points | -110
Bet predictions from Chris Smith
Sometimes things look too good to be true because they’re actually true. Taking the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens in an advantage teaser will be the most popular NFL bet since the Cowboys-Saints teasers on Thanksgiving. Hopefully, that doesn’t bring up any bad memories for you.
The Wild Card round saw two big underdog wins on the road with New England and New Orleans both being eliminated early. We could be in for more underdog winners this week as inflated lines in the divisional round traditionally lead to favorites failing to cover more significant numbers. That said, higher seeds at home coming off the bye in this round are hitting nearly 70% straight up in these scenarios since the turn of the century. Teasing both the Chiefs and Ravens through the key numbers of 3 and 7 eliminates the worry of failing to cover a potential double-digit spread by kickoff.
In Baltimore, John Harbaugh might not have quite the head coaching advantage that Reid will have in the Chiefs-Texans game, but he does have the more talented roster. The Ravens will be poised to slow down Derrick Henry and make Ryan Tannehill beat them. AJ Brown was non-existent last weekend in Foxborough against Stephon Gilmore, and now ball hawk Marcus Peters will be lurking for the Ravens. The Tennessee defense is an underrated unit, but no team is fully prepared for the Lamar Jackson experience. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Titans keep this close into the 4th quarter, but my guess is the Baltimore run game wears them down eventually.
2u – Teaser: Chiefs -1.5 & Ravens -2.5 | -140
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