Ravens Suddenly Favored in Season Opener

The Buffalo Bills looks to be running away with most analysts' predictions for their upcoming Sunday Night Football showdown this weekend, when they're set to host the rival Baltimore Ravens in Buffalo.

It's hard to pick against the Bills when they're playing from the comfort of their dominant home arena, especially when they're slated to play the last team they beat. The Ravens struggled in last winter's playoff loss to the Bills, as most away teams do when playing the Bills, and ultimately lost in painful fashion in cutting another championship bid well short of the Super Bowl.

With just days remaining until the pair of contenders are set to rematch, though, a slew of experts are starting to side with the underdogs. NFL.com's panel of editors went through all 16 games one-by-one, and the Ravens received all five of their votes as the unanimously-presumed victors.

Brooke Cersosimo expanded upon her logic, providing necessary flowers to what she viewed as two similarly-loaded scoring attacks. While one side has 2x MVP Lamar Jackson, the other has the reigning winner in Josh Allen. While Baltimore's quarterback is aided by offensive stars in Derrick Henry and Zay Flowers, Allen's got James Cook and Khalil Shakir.

The difference comes down to their defensive strategies and infrastructure, where Baltimore's picked to prevail.

"Zach Orr's defense was one of the best in the league down the stretch last season and has historically had Allen's number in the regular season," Cersosimo elaborates. "The reigning MVP's 67.7 career regular-season passer rating against the Ravens is his worst among the 14 opponents he has face at least three times, per NFL Research. Matchups between league goliaths come down to the details, and Baltimore owns that slight edge despite what happened in January."

Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens — A host of Bills players stop Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry during first half action at the Buffalo Bills divisional game against the Baltimore Ravens at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park on Jan. 19, 2025. | Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

"This isn't about the Ravens getting revenge for that playoff loss -- it's about them boasting perhaps the best roster in the NFL."

The Ravens have certainly done their due diligence in putting themselves in that conversation, relentless adding talent to bounce back from all of those years of failing to get the job done. Their new toys won't get much of a ramp-up process, though, as the Bills game approaches fast, and the Ravens are likely looking to add another win to their 1-3 record in Buffalo over the last five seasons.

The home team with their own real shot at finally hoisting the Lombardi Trophy will be the natural popular favorite entering Sunday night, but those with the tools to topple the Bills are starting to accumulate some late momentum.

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