The 2020 NFL season for better or worse continues to march on in New England despite the Patriots no longer being atop the AFC East. New England is currently third in the AFC East with a 3-5-0 record and are four games back of the first-place Buffalo Bills. The Patriots have a tough task this weekend when they will take on the 6-2 Baltimore Ravens who are led by the uber-talented QB Lamar Jackson.
As things currently stand the Patriots are big underdogs in this match with the Ravens currently favored according to Sports Betting Dime’s week 10 NFL spreads. This is a major television match up for the Patriots with this Sunday Night Football match-up on NBC kicking off at 8:20 p.m. ET.
New England has had problems scoring in 2020 with their points per game of 20.8 ranking 28th in the NFL. While the defense hasn’t been as strong as previous seasons but their points against average of 24.2 ranks 12th in the league. There are some signs of things starting to turn around however with the Patriots defeating the New York Jets 30-27 on Monday Night Football. Patriots QB Cam Newton went 27-35 with 274 passing yards and rushed 10 times for 16 yards and picked up two rushing touchdowns. The running game for the Patriots was a major difference-maker with second-year running back Damian Harris rushing the ball 14 times for 71 yards.
Newton in the passing game favored one receiver more than others with Jakobi Meyers catching 12 passes on 14 targets for 169 yards. That is unlikely to happen against a stout Ravens defense. Baltimore has allowed just 17.8 points per game in 2020 which ranks first in the NFL and is down from 18.2 in 2019.
History is on New England’s side however with the Patriots owning a 10-4 record all-time and the Patriots winning three out of the last five match-ups dating back to 2013. That being said the Ravens clobbered the Patriots 37-20 last season. That game was the Mark Ingram show with the running back rushing 15 times for 115 yards, an averaged of 7.67 yards per attempt.
For the Patriots this is a chance to move to 4-5 on the year but in all actuality, this will have little impact on the overall outcome of the 2020 NFL season. New England’s fate is sealed, this is a year of immense challenge and in all reality, this is about the long-term for Bill Belichick and company.
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