Why is Baltimore Favored at Buffalo?

Sports bettors waking up this morning and finding that the Ravens are slight favorites at Buffalo were perplexed. How is this possible? How is a 12-5 team favored at a 13-4 team’s home field? In actuality, the initial line was Buffalo -1.5 points but the Ravens bets have been streaming in. William Hill has Baltimore at -1, BetOnline has a PK listed for the game and Draftkings has Baltimore all the way up to -2.5 points. This may be the best game to try to “middle” or play both ways and hope it lands in the middle.

Still, why are people betting Baltimore to win on the road straight up? 67% of the $ bet thus far is on the Ravens and that is after the action corrected some following the big line movement. Well, the Ravens handed Buffalo a beatdown in week 4. The score was 35-10. Also, sports bettors understand that Ravens QB Lamar Jackson is streaky and has traditionally played poorly in the post-season. His domination of the Steelers this past weekend has given Ravens backers all the proof they need that this is Baltimore’s year. They are going to ride Baltimore until they lose.

The evidence pointing against a Ravens win is that Buffalo is undefeated at home this year. It’s true that the Bills are dealing with some injuries including to RB Ray Davis, who is doubtful for Sunday. But, they have the main pieces in place to win. In the end, this is a tough one to call, but my early lean is to take Buffalo at home. Their home field advantage is real and QB Josh Allen will leave everything on the field.