2011 NFL Wildcard Playoffs: Ravens vs. Chiefs Picks & Predictions
By Anthony Rome
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Kansas City, MO (The Spread) - The Baltimore Ravens enter the postseason as one of the hottest teams in the league and the Kansas City Chiefs are 7-1 at home this year. Something has to give when the two teams square off at 1:00PM ET on Sunday. Continue reading for picks, odds and trends on this NFL Wildcard Playoff matchup.
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According to oddsmakers from online sports book Sportsbook.com, the Chiefs are 3-point home underdogs against the Ravens on Sunday. The over/under total for this game is currently 40.5 points.
The Ravens wrapped up the regular season with a win at home to the Bengals and finished 12-4 on the year. They were 8-7-1 against the spread according to latest NFL trends, and were 5-2-1 against the number on the road this year.
The Chiefs finished the regular season with a home loss to the Raiders to drop their win-loss record to 10-6. They covered the spread in nine of their seven games this season and in five of their eight games at Arrowhead Stadium.
NFL Wildcard Playoffs Free Pick:
The public is all over the Ravens, which scares us a little. It almost looks to easy to take Baltimore since the Ravens are 12-4 and the Chiefs lost to the Raiders last Sunday at home in a game they had to have in order to secure the No. 3 seed. But we think it’s probably safe to lay the points here and take the significantly better team. The Chiefs have a couple things going against them right now. They haven’t won a playoff game since 1994, so they might just be happy to be here. Their offensive playcaller, Charlie Weis, is also heading out of town as soon as the season is over because he was hired as Florida’s new offensive coordinator. So where’s his head at? Matt Cassel and the rest of KC’s offense looked dismal last week against the Raiders, so one would assume they could struggle mightily today against a much-better Baltimore team. The Chiefs’ defense will definitely keep this one close in the first half, but Joe Flacco and Ray Rice will eventually start making plays and this one could get away from KC in the second half. The road team is 4-1 against the spread in the last five meetings between these two teams, while Baltimore is 4-1 ATS in its last five Wildcard games. Our pick is the Ravens –3.
2011 NFL WILDCARD PLAYOFF FREE PICK: BALTIMORE RAVENS –3