The new look Miami Dolphins continued their trend of taking care of business at home against the New England Patriots.
The Dolphin’s new shiny toy, Tyreek Hill, led the team in receiving with eight catches on 12 targets for 96 yards. Newly acquired running back Chase Edmonds led the team on the ground with 12 carries for 25 yards, adding four receptions for 40 yards.
The Baltimore Ravens took down the Jets in New York 24-9 with Lamar Jackson throwing for 213 yards and only rushing for 17 yards on six carries. The Ravens were without their two primary running backs J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards, so newly signed Kenyan Drake led the backfield with 11 carries for 31 yards and added one reception for 15 yards.
The Dolphins won their game against the Ravens last season 22-10 in Miami. Baltimore is 8-2 straight up against the Dolphins since John Harbaugh took over head coaching duties in 2008. The two teams have combined to averaged 40.5 points per game during that stretch.
Dolphins vs. Ravens Week 2 NFL Betting Picks & Prediction
Tua Looks to Prove Doubters Wrong
Miami’s offense did what it needed to do in week 1, but can anyone trust their hard earned money betting on Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa? There have been more skeptics than truthers in favor of the former Alabama quarterback since being drafted 5th overall in the 2020 NFL Draft. In Tagovailoa’s 22 starts he has gone over 300 yards just three times, while he has passed for under 206 yards in 12 of those starts.
Miami could be without their starting left tackle Terron Armstead who was limited in practice Friday and is listed as questionable for Sunday’s game.
The Ravens defense lost newly signed corner back Kyle Fuller for the year after he suffered a torn ACL in their Week 1 matchup with the Jets. Baltimore has their top two corner backs in Marcus Peters and Marlon Humphrey both listed as questionable to play on Sunday, which could affect this betting line if we get word that one or both of them are out.
Baltimore’s defense allowed the Jets to average 4.9 yards per rush in Week 1. Joe Flacco passed for over 300 yards, many of that in garbage time.
Ravens Hoping to Overcome Stout Miami Defense
The Ravens offense played decently, but wasn’t overly impressive. Quarterback Lamar Jackson completed just 17 passes on 30 attempts for 213 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. Their running game, which is their focal point, averaged just 3.0 yards per rush on 21 attempts. Running back J.K. Dobbins is expected to make his season debut after missing Week 1.
The biggest surprise for this team was wide receiver Devin Duvernay catching all four of his targets for 54 yards and two touchdowns. Devernay was a third round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft and had only 473 receiving yards in his first two seasons as a pro. Ravens tight end Mark Andrews was held in check for most of Week 1’s matchup. However, he did see a team high of seven targets. Andrews has smashed the Dolphins, scoring a touchdown in both of his career games against Miami.
The Dolphins looked great on defense against Bill Belichick’s Patriots last week. That might not be saying much, since New England’s whole coaching staff has been shuffled around since the 2021 season. The team brought in Joe Judge and Matt Patricia last off-season, but the departure of Josh McDaniels was a big blow to this team as they lost their offensive coordinator of almost a decade to the Las Vegas Raiders.
The Dolphins unit sacked Patriot’s quarterback Mac Jones twice for 20 yards and also picked him off the red zone. Melvin Ingram also took a scoop and score fumble recovery to the house in the second quarter. This Dolphins defense is an improved unit from what it has been in the past and could cause some issues for Lamar Jackson on Sunday.
Trends to Monitor
The Dolphins are 1-9 against the spread against the Ravens since John Harbaugh took over the reigns in Baltimore. Their only win against the spread came in 2021 when the Dolphins managed to beat the Ravens 22-10 in Miami with a strong defensive performance.
Public money has seen the OVER/UNDER drop from 45.5 to 44.5 since opening and recent trends would back that up. The key trend to consider for this matchup is that the UNDER is 5-0 for the Dolphins on the road in their last five games. The UNDER has hit six times in a row for the Ravens when they are favorites and four in a row when following a win. These two teams have gone under the 44.5 game total eight times in their last 10 head-to-head matchups.
This matchup has the makings of an all-out war in the trenches on Sunday with two defenses who are capable of putting pressure on quarterbacks. It feels like we will have a closely contested game where Ravens kicker Justin Tucker proves why he has the best leg in the game.
A prop to take a look at is Mark Andrews ANYTIME TD which is sitting around +130 and +150 at most sportsbooks (find sharp sportsbook odds here). Andrews has 29 touchdowns in 63 career games but has averaged 0.57 touchdowns a game in his last three years. He didn’t see the endzone in Week 1, but he is in a great spot to score Sunday against the Dolphins.
Best NFL Bet: Game Total UNDER 44.5 – points.
