Yahoo Sports How good are the Ravens? They're road playoff favorites in Buffalo, which never happens.
You didn't need more reasons to anticipate Sunday's divisional round playoff game between the Baltimore Ravens and Buffalo Bills than what's on the front of the package. It's Lamar Jackson versus Josh Allen. The two leading MVP candidates and their Super Bowl contending teams. That's box office enough.
But in case you thought the stakes couldn't get any higher, here's one more nugget to pique your interest. The spread for the game that opened in favor of Buffalo at -1.5 has flipped in favor of Baltimore at -1. And before you brush that off as nothing, here's your reminder that the game is in Buffalo. This is uncharted territory for this team.
The Ravens are now a 1-point favorite at the Bills for Sunday’s divisional game, according to @ESPNBet.
Buffalo has never been an underdog in its previous 18 home playoff games since entering the NFL in 1970, per @ESPNStatsInfo.— Jamison Hensley (@jamisonhensley) January 14, 2025
If the spread holds, Baltimore would be the first road playoff team ever favored in Buffalo, according to ESPN's Jamison Hensley.
The Bills joined the NFL in 1970. That's more than 50 years they've been around without being a home underdog in the playoffs, and it's not hard to tell why. Bills Mafia is real and gives Buffalo a unique home atmosphere on top of the intense weather conditions it gets this time of year. Oh, and when the Bills have teams good enough to host playoff games, they're usually REALLY good.
This year, though, they just happen to be playing a team that's better. The Ravens beat the Bills 35-10 in Week 4 in the only game of the season Josh Allen didn't pass or run for at least one touchdown. They held the Bills to a season-low 236 yards of offense -- and defense isn't even Baltimore's strength.
Allen will have to be much better this time around to give Buffalo a chance because Baltimore's offense is as unstoppable now as it was then, when Derrick Henry ran for 199 yards and a touchdown and Lamar Jackson added 54 on the ground with a touchdown to go with 156 yards passing on 8.7 yards per attempt and two more touchdowns.
That's why bettors likely hammered the Ravens as underdogs and caused the spread to flip. But with this game being played in Buffalo in January (projected temps between 10 and 20 degrees), with no tomorrow for the loser, something tells me it'll be a lot tighter than the first.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: How good are the Ravens? They're road playoff favorites in Buffalo, which never happens.
