The Baltimore Ravens don’t have to play in the wild-card round as they earned the top seed in the AFC with their 14-2 record. They can watch from the comfort of their couches as the New England Patriots host the Tennessee Titans and the Buffalo Bills travel to Houston to face the Texans. However, don’t be fooled into thinking Baltimore won’t have rooting interest in this weekend’s games.
While the Ravens have faced four of the five other AFC playoff teams (the Titans are the exception), Baltimore has teams they’d much rather potentially face next week than others. Though it might be hard to pick out which teams the Ravens would have an easier time with thanks to the immense talent of each squad in the playoffs, we’ve made the call here for you.
Let’s take a look at the rooting guide for wild-card weekend for Baltimore.
Tennessee Titans (No. 6 seed) at New England Patriots (No. 3 seed)
Rooting for: Titans
New England will look to bounce back after an embarrassing loss to the Miami Dolphins in Week 17, dropping out of the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye. They’ll turn their attention to Tennessee, who come into the playoffs on a bit of a hot streak, winning five of their last seven games.
Ever since Ryan Tannehill took over as the starting quarterback for Tennessee, they haven’t looked back. They made a late-season push led by Tannehill and league-leading rusher Derrick Henry to surge beyond the Pittsburgh Steelers for the final wild-card position. With the Patriots looking vulnerable and the Titans looking like a threat, some feel like it’s common sense to root for the Patriots. However, it isn’t that simple.
The Patriots have one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time in Tom Brady. They have one of the greatest coaches of all-time in Bill Belichick. It’s extremely hard to beat those guys once, let alone twice. And we’ve certainly seen New England look very beatable to close out a season only to wind up winning the Super Bowl a few weeks later.
While the Ravens wouldn’t have to play the Patriots until the AFC Championship Game, New England is a different animal in the playoffs and are a threat whenever they step on the field in January. Also, playing the only team they haven’t seen yet might be to Baltimore’s advantage, helping give them the element of surprise on their opponent like they have all season long.
Buffalo Bills (No. 5 seed) at Houston Texans (No. 4 seed)
Rooting for: Texans
The game between Houston and Buffalo is a matchup between two teams who the Ravens beat during the regular season. While both teams possess the firepower to be dangerous, the Bills are solid on both sides of the ball and could give the Ravens some trouble if they were to meet up.
Led by second-year quarterback Josh Allen, Buffalo’s offense has taken a tremendous leap forward. Former Ravens receiver John Brown has had a hand in that along with a much improved offensive line. On defense, Buffalo boasts the likes of Star Lotulelei, Shaq Lawson, Tre’Davious White, Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde.
While the Texans have star power of their own that includes Deshaun Watson, DeAndre Hopkins and the returning J.J. Watt, Baltimore beat them handily earlier in the season, 41-7. They should be able to do it again if they had to meet in the divisional round.
I think Buffalo causes more matchup problems for the Ravens, so Baltimore should be rooting for Houston.
