Colts, Ravens Getting Points for AFC Divisional Playoffs

The Indianapolis Colts and the Baltimore Ravens survived Wild Card Weekend, one as a betting favorite and the other as an underdog. So the matchups are set for this weekend's two AFC Divisional Round playoff games; one involves the latest edition of a good recent playoff rivalry, while the other features a Hall of Fame quarterback going against the team that let him go, and the young gun who replaced him.

Saturday Baltimore visits New England for the fourth playoff encounter between the teams in the last six seasons. And Sunday Peyton Manning and his Denver Broncos host Andrew Luck and his Indianapolis Colts.

As of early this week Bovada was chalking the Patriots at -7 over the Ravens, and the Broncos at -7 over the Colts.

Baltimore just beat the Steelers in Pittsburgh in an AFC Wild Card bout 30-17, winning outright as a field-goal dog. The Ravens got outgained and outrushed, but made big plays when they needed to.

New England, meanwhile, is the No. 1 seed in the AFC, playing at home, where the Patriots went 7-0 SU, 6-1 ATS in games that mattered this season. Also, they didn't have to play last week.

These teams met in the Wild Card round six seasons ago in Foxboro, with Baltimore coming away with a stunning 33-14 victory; they then met in the AFC Championship Game four years ago, also at Gillette Stadium, a 23-20 New England victory; they then met in the championship game again the following season, also in Foxboro, a game the Ravens won 28-13. So Baltimore should have absolutely no qualms about playing the Patriots again this weekend.

Indianapolis just defeated Cincinnati in a Wild Card game last week 26-10. The Colts totally stymied the Bengals, holding them to 254 yards of offense, while racking up 482 themselves. So Indy has made it to the Divisional Round for the second straight season.

Denver, meanwhile, is the No. 2 seed in the AFC, playing at home, where the Broncos went a perfect 8-0 SU, but only 4-4 ATS, this season. Also, they had last week off.

These two teams met back on the opening weekend of this season, also at Mile High. Denver jumped out to a 24-0 lead, then had to hold off an Indy charge, hanging on for a 31-24 victory. The Broncos led 31-10 with less than 10 minutes to go, but the Colts scored twice to pull within a touchdown, and reached the Denver 39-yard line on their final drive before running out of downs.  

But Indy backers celebrated, because the late rally gave the Colts a sneaky cover as eight-point dogs.