New England Patriots vs. Baltimore Ravens Betting Lines
Opening Line: Ravens -3
Over/Under: 49.5
Time: Sunday September 23, 2012 8:20 PM EST
Last Games: The Patriots lost 20-18 to the Arizona Cardinals and the Ravens lost to the Philadelphia Eagles 24-23.
This Sunday night game pits 2 teams that both lost their last games after winning their season openers. The Pats were shocked last week losing at home to the Arizona Cardinals and with versatile TE Aaron Hernandez lost for a month New England went out and signed TE Kellen Winslow Jr. and WR Deion Branch. The dynamic Patriots' offense looked far from in the loss to the Cardinals and NE only was 5/15 on 3rd down conversion.
Baltimore forced 3 turnovers in the loss to the Eagles, but their defense has not been the dominant unit they have been for the last few seasons and they only rank 27th defending the pass and 20th defending the run. That may really hurt them in this game if the Pats can find their offensive groove.
RB Stevan Ridley averaged 3.9 yards per carry last week against Arizona after a solid season opener where he rushed for 125 yards. Baltimore has not looked the same on D without Defensive Player of the Year LB Terrell Suggs, who is out with an injury and LB Jarret Johnson, who is now with the Chargers. Ridley needs to get back on track so the Ravens do not only focus on Brady.
Against the Ravens Brady has the lowest QB rating against them than any other team, but he has still beaten them in 5 of 6 match ups.
Joe Flacco passed for 232 yards in the loss to the Eagles, but he only averaged 5.5 yards per completion. In the Eagles game TE Dennis Pitta and RB Ray Rice led the team in receptions and Flacco needs to make some big plays down the field in this game to Anquan Boldin. The Pats' pass D ranks 7th in the league and they played well against Arizona.
The Pats, who rank 5th in the league defending the run, also played well on run defense last week, but now they face Ray Rice, who is averaging 6.4 yards per carry on the season.
The Patriots have covered the spread 10 times in their last 14 games after a loss and in their last 4 games the total has gone Under every time.
The Ravens have covered the spread in 4 of their last 5 games and in their last 5 home games the total has gone Under 4 times.
The underdog is 3-1-1 in the last 5 games between the Pats and Ravens. Take the Ravens -3 @ Bodog.ca
NFL Handicapping
Future Betting Odds
NFL Toolbox
