The Buffalo Bills are early field-goal favorites over the visiting Ravens ahead of their AFC divisional-round matchup Saturday, according to Las Vegas sportsbooks.
The second-seeded Bills opened as 2½-point favorites over the fifth-seeded Ravens, who have been favored in every game of their six-game winning streak. Oddsmakers have Saturday’s game as the closest of the four wild-card matchups.
The Ravens were last underdogs in Week 12, when their coronavirus-decimated team entered a road game against the Steelers facing a 10½-point spread. They covered it but fell in a 19-14 defeat in Pittsburgh. They’ve been underdogs only once before, covering a one-point spread in a 24-10 road win over the Indianapolis Colts.
Buffalo extended its winning streak to seven games Saturday with a narrow wild-card-round win over the Colts. The Bills finished the regular season 13-3 and lost at home just once, to the top-seeded Kansas City Chiefs in Week 6, 26-17. They finished the season with a plus-126 point differential, second only to the Ravens’ plus-165 mark.
The Ravens, meanwhile, have won six in a row, including a 20-13 victory Sunday over the Tennessee Titans. Just two of their five losses during the regular season came on the road: in Week 10 to the New England Patriots, and two weeks later in Pittsburgh.
The Bills will have one more day of rest and, like Tennessee, a somewhat lessened home-field advantage. Over 6,700 fans attended their game Saturday, less than 10% of Bills Stadium’s capacity.
The over-under for the game is 50 points.