NFL picks Week 9: Ray Lewis explains why Ravens will beat Patriots

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The New England Patriots will play the Baltimore Ravens on the road Sunday night in the best game of the Week 9 slate.

It won't be the first time the Ravens have hosted the Patriots in a primetime game deep into the season looking to end New England's unbeaten run.

When the Patriots were marching toward a perfect 16-0 regular season in 2007, they had a Week 13 matchup at M&T Bank Stadium versus the Ravens. The Patriots barely escaped with a 27-24 victory during which they were aided by some generous penalty calls and a few costly Ravens mistakes. 

Legendary linebacker Ray Lewis was on that Ravens team that lost to Tom Brady and the Patriots in 2007, and he's predicting a different outcome for Baltimore on Sunday night. He explained his reasoning on Sunday's episode of "Inside the NFL" on Showtime.

“If (the Cleveland Browns) don’t fumble the ball, Nick Chubb goes for almost 150-160 yards,” Lewis said. "The bottom line is Bill Belichick is probably going to stack the box against Lamar Jackson to try to stop him from running the football. If (Marquise Brown) plays, that’s a big problem because nobody can cover him on the back end. And I believe they’re going to be able to run the ball on the Patriots. So, guess what? Ed Reed gets his ring that night, his Hall of Fame ring. I’m going to be in the building and the Ravens are going to be ready and the Ravens win. And let’s go, baby. Ravens Nation.”

Oddsmakers are expecting a Patriots win, but not by a wide margin. New England is favored by just 3.5 or four points at most sportsbooks. 

The Ravens are clearly the best team the Patriots will have faced so far in 2019, so this game should tell us quite a bit about where these AFC heavyweights stand as the second half of the season gets underway.

Patriots must overcome this trend to beat Ravens>>>

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