Now that we have five weeks in the books, it’s imperative to start looking both forward and back to check the travel situations and situational spots for each team when handicapping a game. We saw Buffalo in a near-impossible spot last week laying 5, coming off a very emotional win versus a division rival, and having to travel across the pond to take on a team who was waiting for them and had adjusted to a new time zone. With the international games, travel schedule matters.
Just look at the Ravens this week, who head to London, and how they decided to travel on Monday. This will be their second London game as an organization and, after being blown out in the first game while traveling on a Friday, the Ravens wanted to have extra time to adjust to the surroundings. When a team makes that large of a shift in strategy after a single data point, it speaks volumes.
Before we jump into the move them up/move them down section, I wanted to call out that this week saw the least adjustments to my power rankings in almost three years. There were very few teams that, injuries notwithstanding, moved more than 0.5 points in any direction. Also, I wanted to call out the Ravens vs. Steelers game specifically. That was the faultiest final I have recorded in the season. If you have not watched the game, I would highly recommend doing so. Drops dominated the storyline and were the main reason the Ravens did not win and cover. I adjusted the Steelers down 0.5 despite the win and cover.
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