The Sunday Night Football this week comes from Gillette Stadium as two of the better sides in the AFC in recent seasons meet in what could be a bit of a mismatch when the New England Patriots host the Baltimore Ravens.
In recent times it has been the Patriots who have dominated the Conference but their star is waning and the Ravens are one of the teams looking to pick up the mantle. They have the chance to highlight the changing of the guard here.
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots ended a four-match losing snap on Monday night when they defeated the New York Jets but you would be lying if you had said there was anything convincing about their performance in that match. Had it not been for predictable mistakes by Jets quarterback Joe Flacco at key times you would have to think the Patriots would have been beaten having trailed by double digits at one point in the second half.
I guess you have to give the Patriots credit for winning the match but they are going to need to go a lot better if they are to come away with the win they need here. They will need Cam Newton to play a clean game, something he rarely does these days, and they are likely to need their defence to perform a whole lot better than they have so far this season, although there were times when they looked more at it in that department last week.
Special Offer
Opt in and place 5 accumulators either in a Boylesports shop or online and get an acca free! Click the image below to bet. ALL CUSTOMERS! 18+ T&Cs apply. Gamble Aware.
Baltimore Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens head to Foxboro with a 6-2 record behind them but they know with their rivals Pittsburgh Steelers already 8-0 in their division they are not able to slip up again if they harbour hopes of reeling their AFC North compatriots in. They meet the Steelers again at Thanksgiving in just under two weeks but their eyes can’t drift towards that match either because their division winning hopes could be over if they lose between now and then.
The Ravens look like a terrible match up for the Patriots because they have an excellent defence which is performing very well and an offense which is in great form, led by the elite level play of quarterback Lamar Jackson. Like all good players he lights up when the spotlight is on him so it will be interesting to see what he has up his sleeve. Joe Flacco torched this New England secondary last week so Jackson could have a field day against it.
Betting
I’m always reluctant to take a relatively big handicap on an away side in this league, especially this season when so many teams are either catching up fitness wise or are depleted with injuries likely to make things worse during the match but I’m just struggling to see how the New England Patriots stay within 6.5 points of the Baltimore Ravens here. I get that Belichick will try and take the run game away from the Ravens but I’m still not convinced that is enough.
We saw last week that Joe Flacco torched this New England defence through the air and if he is doing that then Lamar Jackson is certainly capable of doing it. I’m still far from convinced that the Patriots will be able to stop the run game though and even if they do they will still need to put points on the board which isn’t guaranteed against this Ravens defence. I expect Baltimore to get on top early here and power their way to a pretty routine victory.
Tips
Back Baltimore Ravens (-6.5) to beat New England Patriots for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with William Hill
Back them here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2020
