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After beating the Tennessee Titans, the Baltimore Ravens will travel up to Buffalo to take on the Bills in the divisional round of the NFL playoffs. It’s a matchup between two red-hot, young quarterbacks taken in the 2018 NFL draft and two defenses that have looked better but are still formidable when things go right.
For the second consecutive week, the Ravens have the hottest playoff matchup and oddsmakers are keeping this one close. According to BetMGM, the Bills are 2.5-point favorites in this game — the smallest spread of the divisional round for either the AFC or NFC.
While Baltimore hasn’t looked perfect this season, that lone playoff win answered quite a few questions and has at least eliminated the narrative the Ravens can’t win in the postseason. But now we’re left wondering if the defense and quarterback Lamar Jackson can handle what might turn into a shootout against an MVP-caliber quarterback in Josh Allen.
If the answer is an overwhelming “yes,” that’s a scary thought for the rest of the NFL. Jackson has already proven to be electric, the rushing attack has been deadly, and the defense has shown some flashes of brilliance. But if it all comes together this week, there’d be plenty of reason to consider the Ravens Super Bowl LV favorites.
However, on the flip side, this is going to be the toughest game yet for Baltimore — as is often the case in the playoffs. Allen is having a great season and presents a similar threat as Jackson on the ground too. With wide receivers Stefon Diggs and Cole Beasley playing great football as well, Allen has the weapons necessary to carve the Ravens’ defense up.
Both Baltimore and Buffalo have been great at times this season, blowing out opponents and winning tough matchups. At the same time, both teams have also lost games by wide margins. We’ll see if either the Bills or Ravens can live up to their hype and pull off a dominant win over the other this week. But with such a small spread, there might be better bets to take.
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