NFL Free Pick: BAL/TEN
The Tennessee Titans had one of the best records this year in the AFC and will look to advance to the AFC Championship with a win Saturday over the Baltimore Ravens.
Will we give our playoff free pick to the home favorite Titans or go with the stingy Ravens defense?
Oddsmakers from online sports book Sportsbook.com have made the Titans -3 point spread favorite. The over/under for this game has been set at 34 total points.
Top Trend: The Titans are 12-3-1 against the spread in their last 16 games and 6-1-1 ATS in their last eight games at home. Tennessee is also 4-1 against the number in its last five games when playing Baltimore, while the total has gone under in six of the Titans’ last seven games when playing the Ravens.
Key Stat: Both of these teams have been outstanding defensively this season. The Titans are allowing just 14.6 points per game while the Ravens are limiting opponents to just 15.3 PPG. Both teams are also outstanding against the run, as Tennessee as limited opponents to just 93.8 yards per game on the ground, while Baltimore just 81.3.
Game Outlook: Many NFL pundits have leaped onto the Ravens bandwagon – and for good reason. Baltimore’s defense has played outstanding all season, rookie quarterback Joe Flacco has been a miracle worker, and their running game is dynamic. But what these same pundits are forgetting is how good Tennessee has been all season long. Football purists tend to get wrapped up in how well a team played the week before, forgetting that a team like the Titans earned the No. 1 seed in their conference for a reason. Both teams play outstanding defense, we know that much. So what the game will come down to is which team will win the turnover battle. Kerry Collins is a veteran and he doesn’t make many mistakes, while Flacco has just one postseason game under his belt (albeit he won that one game). The rook didn’t have a stellar game last week in Miami, throwing for under 150 yards and completing just nine passes with no touchdowns. The Dolphins defense is solid, but it isn’t as good as Tennessee’s. The Titans will shut down the Ravens’ rushing attack, force Flacco into bad mistakes and win this game with experience. We love the Titans in this game and recommend the under, although Tennessee –3 is our best free pick in this matchup. For the rest of our NFL Divisional Round Free Pick, see below.
Our Free NFL Pick for the Divisional Round Playoff matchup between the Baltimore Ravens and Tennessee Titans game is
TENNESSEE TITANS -3
TheSpread.com Projected Final Score
Tennessee Titans 17
Baltimore Ravens 13
We also predict that this game will GO UNDER THE TOTAL (34 Sportsbook.com) SET BY ODDSMAKERS
Posted: 1/10/08 3:00PM ET