Tennessee Titans vs. Baltimore Ravens 2020: Prediction Against The Spread, Line For NFL Playoff Game

It’s easy to forget just how dominant the Baltimore Ravens were in the 2019 NFL regular season. Between the first-round bye and a meaningless Week 17 game in which Lamar Jackson and other starters rested, the AFC North champions haven’t played with anything on the line in quite some time.

The Tennessee Titans are coming off an impressive victory on Wild-Card Weekend, defeating the New England Patriots 20-13 at Gillette Stadium. Tennessee is one of the hottest teams in the 2020 NFL playoffs with an 8-3 record since Ryan Tannehill became the starting quarterback.

Baltimore is still playing as well as anyone. The Ravens are on a 12-game winning streak, doing so in dominant fashion with the likely NFL MVP.

Tennessee is a nine-point underdog in Baltimore for Saturday night’s divisional playoff game, according to OddsShark. The Ravens can easily win by double digits.

The Ravens beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 28-10 in the season finale with some of their best players watching from the bench. It marked their ninth win by 15 points or more and Baltimore’s sixth such victory in a span of eight games.

Baltimore defeated eight teams that finished the season with a record of .500 or better. After losing to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 3, the Ravens went 5-0 against playoff teams. In a stretch of three games over five weeks, Baltimore beat the Patriots, Seattle Seahawks and Houston Texans by a combined score of 108-43.

Leading the league with 33.2 points per game, the Ravens were the only NFL team to average more than 30 points. Baltimore was never held below 20 points in a single contest.

Tannehill helped transform the Titans’ offense when he replaced Marcus Mariota. Tennessee averaged 30.4 points per game in the quarterback’s 10 regular-season starts.

Facing a tough New England defense on the road, the Titans were limited to 14 points in the wild-card game until Logan Ryan returned an interception for a touchdown with nine seconds remaining. Tannehill was just 8-15 for 72 yards, one touchdown and a pick. Tannehill threw for 20 yards in the second half.

Tannehill didn’t have to do much because Derrick Henry ran for 182 yards on 34 carries. If the Ravens can even slow down Henry just a little bit, Tannehill will be forced to make more plays and prove that his terrific regular-season can be carried into the playoffs.

Nick Chubb, the NFL’s No.2 rusher behind Henry, only had 45 yards on 15 attempts when Baltimore visited the Cleveland Browns in Week 16. It marked Chubb’s fewest yards per carry in any game this season.

The Ravens have given up no more than 21 points in 11 straight games. Baltimore held Russell Wilson, Tom Brady and Deshaun Watson to 20 points or fewer.

Baltimore will do the same to Tannehill. Jackson should have his way with Tennessee’s defense, just as he’s done with almost every team the Ravens have faced.

The Titans lost to the Texans 24-21 at home in Week 15. Tennessee was defeated by the New Orleans Saints 38-28 in Week 16. They rebounded against Houston in Week 17 when Watson and other starters didn’t play.

New England’s offense has been bad for most of the season. They made Tennessee look better than the unit that was average during the year.

That will change Saturday night when Jackson and the Ravens remind everyone just how unstoppable they’ve been.

Prediction: Baltimore over Tennessee, 30-16