NFL Football Betting: Baltimore Ravens at Miami Dolphins
Maybe this game should be called the ‘enigma bowl’–a pair of teams that few, if anyone, seem to have a good read on. The 3-1 Miami Dolphins will host the 2-2 Baltimore Ravens. The Dolphins showed some improvement last year and went to work in the offseason to improve the team even more. So far it’s hard to say whether they achieved that goal. The Baltimore Ravens are, of course, the defending Super Bowl champions but few think that the team will come close to repeating this year.
The Dolphins were a serious question mark heading into the season even now–five weeks in and with a 3-1 record–there are few answers about just how good this team really is. The Dolphins spent a ton of money ($200 million or so) on the free agent market this year but the jury is still out on whether it will produce a net improvement in this team. They definitely upgraded themselves at many positions (eg: wide receiver) but it also seems like they downgraded at several other positions (eg: running back). Ryan Tannehill is a decent quarterback but still needs to improve his game in many levels.
Despite winning the Super Bowl last year the Ravens didn’t get much respect heading into this season. The mainstream media focused on the loss of the retiring Ray Lewis and Ed Reed (now with the Houston Texans) but both men are on the downside of their career. For that reason there’s a perception that the Ravens have lost more than they actually have on defense. Former Bronco Elvis Dumervil is the biggest acquisition but Terrell Suggs and cornerback Ladarius Webb returns from a torn ACL injury meaning that the defense likely got younger and faster. On offense, Joe Flacco may finally be getting the respect he deserves as a solid NFL quarterback. The Ravens are having to replace some of his top receiving targets from last year but Baltimore is still a formidable team. That being said, they’ve suffered a lot of injuries ‘in the trenches’ in the early going so at 2-2 this team could go either way.
There are definitely some warning signs about this Dolphins team despite their winning record. They’ve been outgained in every game this season and we don’t expect Joe Flacco to throw five interceptions like he did last week at Buffalo. We’ll take the Ravens plus the points.
BET BALTIMORE RAVENS +2′ OVER MIAMI DOLPHINS
