NFL Playoffs Betting - Baltimore Ravens and Denver Broncos Preview
The Baltimore Ravens will visit the Denver Broncos on Saturday in the divisional round of the NFL Playoffs. The Ravens got this far by beating the Indianapolis Colts in the Wild Card Round last weekend 24-9. The win was especially emotional for the Ravens as it was future Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Lewis' final home game.
The Broncos are the host team by virtue of having the best record in the AFC. Led by Peyton Manning, the Broncos are on an 11 game winning streak coming into this one. In the win streak, the Broncos have scored at least 30 points in all but two of them. That is a far different way they won than a year ago when they were pulling out low scoring games most weeks. The Broncos were challenged offensively last year, but now with Manning running the show, they are anything but.
Manning has beaten the Ravens nine straight times. That is one of the game's longest streaks. The Ravens counter with Joe Flacco who is not exactly chopped liver. He has a big arm and he's got a lot of playoff experience.
Ravens at Broncos Odds
5Dimes has the Ravens +10 -130 or +325. The Broncos are -10 +110 or -400. Over/under is 46.
Ten points sounds like a lot of points for two of the top eight teams in the NFL. And a team with the Ravens reputation for being a great defensive team, ten points would seem like a lock. But let's look a bit closer. As I said earlier, the Broncos are almost a guarantee to score in the 30s. Let's see what the Ravens have been scoring lately. Last week they had 24 against the Colts. But only twice since November 18th have they scored in the upper 20s. Plus, that includes a 34-17 loss to the Broncos?at home.
So a ten point spread? It's probably not going to be enough. Unless the Ravens defense can figure out some way to slow down Manning and the Broncos, and lately nobody has, the Broncos will cover this spread, probably by halftime.
So how about the Broncos defense having an off day? The last time they gave up 20 points was five games ago. The last time they gave up 24 points was 11 games ago. So there looks to be little chance of that happening.
So we will take the Broncos -10 and the over.
This will be Ray Lewis' final game in a Ravens uniform, so even though it may be a blowout, stay tuned for the final minutes of this great player's career.
