The Baltimore Ravens begin the NFL Playoffs campaign with the visit of first-timers Houston on Sunday, and an AFC Championship clash with New England appears to be on the cards for the hosts.
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Courtesy of a bye, the Ravens looked on during Wild Card Weekend as the Texans eased past the Cincinnati Bengals to set up this meeting in the Divisional round, and they will have impressed with what they saw from Gary Kubiak and his team.
Houston survived the loss of quarterbacks Matt Schaub and Matt Leinart to reach the playoffs for the first time since coming into the league back in 2002, with rookie TJ Yates performed admirably since he stepped into the limelight. The Texans ran over Cincinnati in the Wild Card round as Arian Foster raced to 153 yards and two touchdowns on the day, and he will be a key figure once more as they look to overcome the Ravens.
However, Baltimore will be a much more difficult task than Cincinnati. They have one of the most feared defences in the NFL today, having ranked third in overall play; second in rushing and fourth in passing. What will give them hope is that the Ravens are not as impressive on the other side of the ball, while Houston themselves have an impressive ‘D’ that ranked second overall.
And it is the tale of the two defences which will settle this game; whichever comes out on top will ensure victory for their team. Due to their playoff experience you would have to look to Baltimore in this one, with star linebacker Ray Lewis leading the way. The Texans are playing for only the second time in the post-season and this time they are out on the road without the support of a raucous Reliant Stadium crowd. Unsurprisingly Baltimore are 5/17 favourites, while Houston are 3/1 to set up a meeting with the New England Patriots who crushed Denver on Saturday night.
Ray Rice has led the way for Baltimore this season, rumbling for 1,364 yards and 15 touchdowns. The running back is 13.5 to score the first TD of this game, while wide receivers Torrey Smith and Anquan Boldin are 8/1 and 9/1 respectively. Tight end Ed Dickson, who has contributed five so far this season, is 11/1 in this market.
Running back Foster will be Houston’s main threat on offence and, with 12 touchdowns to his name this season, he is 11/2 to get the first one here, while wide receivers Andre Johnson and Jacoby Jones are 11/1 and 25/1 respectively.
Ladbrokes have a special money–back promotion for this match. If the Texans at the Ravens goes to overtime, the firm will refund all losing bets on the touchdown scorer markets in this match. We have already seen one OT game during the playoffs, courtesy of Denver and Pittsburgh on Wild Card weekend.
It is also worth noting that bookmaker Ladbrokes are offering enhanced odds on marquee markets of live TV NFL games all season long. This covers Money Line, Point Spread, Total Points, 1st Half Point Spread and 1st Half Totals.
