Ian Schultz makes his pick:
The 14-2 Baltimore Ravens enjoyed a much-deserved bye week while the AFC playoffs kicked off last weekend.
Saturday’s AFC Wild Card games saw the Houston Texans upend the Buffalo Bills and the Tennessee Titans head into New England and upset the playoff-tested Patriots. That combination of results sends the sixth-seeded Titans to Baltimore this Saturday tonight to take on the number one seeded Baltimore Ravens.
The Titans do present some challenges to the Ravens in running back Derrick Henry who led the NFL in rushing this season and just rumbled for 182-yards and a touchdown against the Patriots last week. He has been a beast in his last seven games averaging 154-yards per game and adding 11 touchdowns. The Ravens will need a big effort from their front seven and sound tackling from corners and safeties crashing down to contain Tennessee’s big rig.
If the Baltimore Ravens are able to stop the run, Ryan Tannehill would be entrusted to lead the Titans to victory with a pass-catching group that leaves a lot to be desired outside of AJ Brown. Tannehill has played well since taking over the starting job, but overall, he is the Titans weak link.
Defensively, the Titans have been playing better of late but are a mess in the red zone, an area where the Baltimore Ravens have thrived all season. While the status of Mark Ingram is worth monitoring, the Ravens have plenty of other red-zone weapons to hurt the porous Titans red-zone group.
Look for the Ravens to jump out on early on the Titans forcing Tannehill to have to beat them. he will make a few plays but it won’t be enough as Baltimore wins 31-20 to move on to the AFC title game next Sunday.