Baltimore Ravens at New England Patriots Odds

Betting Odds

Point Spread: New England Patriots(-2.5)
Game Total Line: (44)
(wagering lines available at 5Dimes)

New England (3-1, 2-2 ATS) will play its first game in years without Randy Moss, who was shipped to the Vikings after last week's 41-14 win over Miami. NFL betting fans are wondering whether the high-flying Patriots can function without a dangerous deep threat.

Moss only caught nine balls for New England this season, but he was still drawing attention away from short and medium-range guys like Wes Welker, Aaron Hernandez and Ron Gronkowski. Brandon Tate takes over for Moss in the starting lineup and, while he's quite explosive, opponents won't game plan for him like they did Moss.

If the Patriots offense stumbles, the team's playoff chances are cooked, because the "D" can't stop anybody right now. New England is allowing 24 points per game and has been absolutely crushed by the pass. The secondary is regularly hung out to dry by a weak pass rush, which has mustered just seven sacks on the year. The Pats are also surrendering 112 yards per game on the ground, 20th in the NFL. Quite frankly, there are too many holes to plug.

Baltimore (4-1, 3-2 ATS) is poised to emerge from a pretty opening schedule pretty unscathed (at Jets, at Bengals, Browns, at Steelers, Broncos, at Patriots). Along the way, the Ravens have proved they can win in just about any way imaginable-throwing the ball, running the ball, grinding it out on defense. The defense has been particularly impressive, especially the secondary, which was expected to be a weak link. Baltimore is allowing just 156 pass yards to game, and it's hard to imagine the Ravens will let New England get away with dinking and dunking up the field.

The Ravens ground game got untracked last week thanks to a brilliant performance by Ray Rice. The explosive back hadn't had a 100-yard game yet this season, but he gouged Denver for 133 yards and two scores in last week's 31-17 win. If there's room for improvement, it's Joe Flacco's consistency. Flacco has two outstanding games this season, two mediocre ones, and a very awful performance. Having him deliver rock-solid performances on a weekly basis would make this a pretty scary unit.

The Patriots had won six straight against Baltimore before last year's playoff collapse. The Ravens have now covered two of their last three meetings with New England, and all three of those games went over the total. Beted has set the total for Sunday's game at 44 points.

Point Spread Pick

Take the Ravens +3 available at Sportsinteraction