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NFL lines, Week 1 2018: 5 best bets

By Jeremy Morris

GLENDALE, AZ - AUGUST 12: Running back David Johnson #31 of the Arizona Cardinals rushes the football past cornerback David Amerson #29 of the Oakland Raiders during the first half of the NFL game at the University of Phoenix Stadium on August 12, 2017 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
GLENDALE, AZ - AUGUST 12: Running back David Johnson #31 of the Arizona Cardinals rushes the football past cornerback David Amerson #29 of the Oakland Raiders during the first half of the NFL game at the University of Phoenix Stadium on August 12, 2017 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /
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Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco and head coach John Harbaugh celebrate after the Ravens win the AFC Championship over New England (Doug Kapustin/MCT via Getty Images)
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco and head coach John Harbaugh celebrate after the Ravens win the AFC Championship over New England (Doug Kapustin/MCT via Getty Images) /

<h4><strong>Season:</strong> Ravens will make the playoffs (+135)</h4> <h4><strong>Week 1:</strong> Bills at Ravens Under 40.5 points (-110)</h4>. Baltimore Ravens. Record: 0-0. 'Gone in 60 Seconds' (2000) . 1. player. 26

Nick Cage plays Memphis Raines (strong name), who was once the most successful car thief in the state of California (didn’t know they had power rankings for that kinds of thing but that’s beside the point). He’s been out of the grand theft auto scene for some time but is pulled back in to help his brother settle a debt with an infamous crime lord. Raines reassembles his old gang to pull off one last next to impossible mission — steal 50 high-priced luxury cars.

(“Getting the gang back together” and “one last job” — two hallmarks of a great action flick, not sure how but I think it bodes well for the Ravens)

John Harbaugh took the Ravens to the playoffs each of his first five seasons in Baltimore and won a Super Bowl in his fifth season. Joe Flacco has been with Harbaugh for his entire tenure in Baltimore, as has Terrell Suggs who also preceded them as a Raven by five years.

Ozzie Newsome, the team’s only GM since the Ravens were established in 1996 and the architect of two Super Bowl wins, is stepping down after this season. With Newsome retiring, Lamar Jackson coming in to possibly replace Flacco, John Harbaugh coaching for his job and Suggs near retirement, it looks like the Ravens have one last job in 2018 — return to the playoffs.

The Ravens had players miss a total of 294 games in 2017, second only to the Giants. This offseason, they added a group of veteran receivers (Michael Crabtree, John Brown, Willie Snead) to bolster the passing game and drafted two tight ends (Hayden Hurst, Mark Andrews) to help improve both dimensions of the offense. Alex Collins is back at running back after a 973-yard season in 2017. Even with all their injuries, the Ravens went 9-7 last year and weren’t eliminated from the playoffs until the last week of the season.

Their 2018 schedule includes the Bills, Broncos, Raiders and Bucs at home, trips to Tennessee and Kansas City and home/away matchups with the Browns and Bengals. Assuming they can avoid the injury bug, or at least partially dodge it compared to last season, they have a really good shot at making it back to the playoffs in 2018 as an AFC wildcard. I the Ravens D shows up, they run the ball and blow out the Bills with Nathan Peterman but the games goes under 40.5 points.