ExtremeRavens Posted January 9 Posted January 9 It all comes down to this. The Ravens begin their quest for a third Super Bowl championship this weekend when they take on the AFC North rival Pittsburgh Steelers in the wild-card round Saturday night at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. Here’s everything you need to know before kickoff. What time is the Ravens’ game? And how can I watch? The Ravens vs. Steelers playoff game kicks off Saturday at 8 p.m. The game will be streamed live on Prime Video and Twitch and will also be broadcast locally on ABC (WMAR; Chs. 2, 7) in the Baltimore area. It’s the first time Prime — which hosts “Thursday Night Football” during the regular season — will exclusively broadcast an NFL playoff game. Last season, NBC’s live streaming service Peacock hosted the Kansas City Chiefs’ win over the Miami Dolphins in the wild-card round. Veteran play-by-play announcer Al Michaels and NFL/college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit will have the call, with Kaylee Hartung serving as the sideline reporter. Host Charissa Thompson and analysts Tony Gonzalez, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Andrew Whitworth and Richard Sherman will provide coverage before, during and after the game. Taylor Rooks will contribute features, with Albert Breer sharing news and notes from around the league. Coverage on Prime begins at 7:30 p.m. For those seeking an alternative to the traditional broadcast, Prime Video will stream a playoff edition of Prime Vision with Next Gen Stats. The broadcast features AI-powered innovations, on-screen graphic overlays, vantage points from TNF’s High-Sky and All-22 camera angle and in-game reports from analytics expert Sam Schwartzstein. Will the Ravens win? Baltimore is a 9 1/2-point favorite, according to most sportsbooks. The Ravens (12-5) are riding a four-game winning streak and claimed the AFC North title over the Steelers (10-7), who ended the regular season with four straight losses. Pittsburgh’s offense has been slumping of late, while the Ravens’ defense has been ascending. Baltimore has allowed roughly 10 points per game during its current streak, while the Steelers have averaged just over 14 points during their skid. Russell Wilson has struggled to rediscover his midseason form, George Pickens is feuding with fans on the sideline and Najee Harris could be playing his last game with the team that picked him in the first round. Outside of a worrisome knee injury to wide receiver Zay Flowers, everything is pointing in the Ravens’ favor. But when longtime coaches Mike Tomlin and John Harbaugh face off, the games are almost always close. In 37 meetings between the two, including three playoff games, the Steelers are 21-16 (though they have won eight of the past 10). Twenty-nine of those games have been decided by one score, while 19 have been won by three points or fewer. How did the Ravens get here? After starting 0-2, Baltimore won 12 of its final 15 games to finish 12-5 and claim the No. 3 seed in the AFC. While that record is worse than last year’s 14-3 finish that claimed the conference’s top seed and first-round bye, there’s a chance that this year’s team could finally get over the hump. Ravens running back Derrick Henry nearly ran for 2,000 yards during the regular season. (Kim Hairston/Staff) Behind quarterback Lamar Jackson and running back Derrick Henry, the Ravens’ offense has been one of the best in the league. Jackson finished a career year by becoming the first player in league history to throw for 4,000 yards and rush for 900 yards and the first to throw 40 or more touchdown passes and four or fewer interceptions, putting him in contention to win his third NFL Most Valuable Player Award. Henry, meanwhile, finished second in the league with 1,921 rushing yards and set a single-season franchise record with 16 rushing touchdowns at the ripe old age of 31. Along the way, the Ravens went 4-2 against the AFC North and 7-3 against teams that reached the postseason, including statement wins over the Buffalo Bills (35-10 in Week 4), Washington Commanders (30-23 in Week 6), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (41-31 in Week 7), Denver Broncos (41-10 in Week 8), Los Angeles Chargers (30-23 in Week 12) and Houston Texans (31-2 in Week 17). If the Ravens win Saturday, who will they play next? Baltimore’s most likely playoff path runs through Buffalo and Kansas City. With a Ravens win Saturday and a Bills win over the visiting Denver Broncos on Sunday afternoon, Baltimore will head north for a divisional-round matchup against No. 2 seed Buffalo next weekend. In that scenario, the winner of the Texans-Chargers game will take on the Chiefs, who finished a league-best 15-2 during the regular season and earned the first-round bye. If the Ravens win and the Broncos upset the Bills, Baltimore would host the Texans-Chargers winner at M&T Bank Stadium, while Denver travels to face its AFC West rival Kansas City. Ravens running back Derrick Henry helped lead his team to a 35-10 win over Buffalo earlier this season. (Karl Merton Ferron/Staff) A Ravens-Bills matchup would be particularly tasty, pitting the top MVP candidates against one another in a playoff rematch. Buffalo eliminated Baltimore, 17-3, in the divisional round Jan. 16, 2021, in a game played before just 6,772 fans because of COVID-19 restrictions in Western New York. If the Ravens get past the Bills this time, they would most likely play at Kansas City in a highly anticipated rematch of last season’s AFC championship game — a 17-10 Chiefs win in Baltimore. There’s a slim chance the Ravens could host the conference title game as well. If Kansas City loses its divisional round matchup, the winner of that game — either the Texans, Chargers or Broncos — will be seeded lower than the Ravens and travel to Baltimore. When is the Super Bowl? Should the Ravens win the AFC, they’ll face the NFC champion in Super Bowl 59 on Feb. 9 at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. The game will kick off at 6:30 p.m. and will be broadcast on FOX. How is the rest of the playoff field shaping up? According to Vegas Insider, the Detroit Lions are the favorites to win the Super Bowl at +250 odds, followed by the Chiefs (+350), Ravens (+600), Bills (+600) and Philadelphia Eagles (+700). The Texans and Steelers, at +1,000, are the biggest longshots. Here’s a quick look at the top contenders: Detroit Lions (15-2, No. 1 seed in NFC): Injuries – most notably to star pass rusher Aidan Hutchinson – have taken their toll, but the Lions have kept winning anyway. Buoyed by wide receivers Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams, tight end Sam LaPorta and running backs Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montomgery, quarterback Jared Goff has led one of the league’s most effectives offenses, while coordinator Aaron Glenn’s defense is coming off its most impressive performance yet in an NFC North-clinching win over Minnesota. Kansas City Chiefs (15-2, No. 1 seed in AFC): Kansas City is seeking to become the first team in NFL history to win three straight Super Bowl titles. Although two-time MVP Patrick Mahomes posted pedestrian stats this season relative to his lofty standards, the Chiefs have won a record 16 straight one-score games. At this point, it’s not just luck. Buffalo Bills (13-4, No. 2 seed in AFC): Josh Allen has put together one of his best seasons, accounting for 40 touchdowns (28 passing, 12 rushing) while throwing a career-low six interceptions. After Buffalo traded Stefon Diggs and lost Gabe Davis to Jacksonville, Khalil Shakir has become the leading receiver while running back James Cook has blossomed into a star. But with a leaky defense, especially against the run, Allen will need to don his Superman cape to get the Bills into the Super Bowl. Philadelphia Eagles (14-3, No. 2 seed in NFC): The addition of running back Saquon Barkley – who became the ninth player to eclipse 2,000 rushing yards in a season – has turbo-charged an offense that also features two of the best wide receivers in the league in A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. The defense has also taken a massive step forward under coordinator Vic Fangio. The only question is whether quarterback Jalen Hurts – who just returned from a concussion this week – is capable of leading his team to a title. Have a news tip? Contact sports editor C.J. Doon at cdoon@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/CJDoon. View the full article Quote
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