Jason Whitlock truly can’t help himself.
Whitlock, an unabashed Patriots hater, vowed never to bet against New England ever again after the reigning Super Bowl champions stormed into the Meadowlands and steamrolled the New York Jets. But just two weeks after making this promise, it sure sounds like Whitlock won’t be able to resist scratching the itch.
While we’re not sure how the “Speak For Yourself” host is factoring the point spread for this Sunday’s clash M&T Bank Stadium, he believes the Baltimore Ravens will hand the Patriots their first loss of the 2019 season.
“The Patriots’ offense is not great, in my opinion. It’s not great,” Whitlock said Tuesday on FOX Sports 1. “So, I don’t see this as a high-scoring game regardless of what happens. On the other side, I’m telling you, (Devin) McCourty and Stephon Gilmore make that defense go. They shut down wide receivers. They make that defense go. I’m not knocking the rest of them. Jamie Collins, (Kyle) Van Noy, good players. But they can be run on particularly by this team with this quarterback and Mark Ingram and just their commitment and will. They’ve (Ravens) had a week off a bye.”
Whitlock continued: “Greg Roman, the offensive coordinator for Baltimore, took Colin Kaepernick to Foxboro and beat Bill Belichick and the Patriots, off a bye week as well. I think Lamar Jackson is better than Colin Kaepernick. I know at one point Colin Kaepernick — I was all in. As a runner and I think as a more consistent player, Lamar Jackson’s better. I think Baltimore’s defense is certainly good enough to limit this Patriots offense. If they weren’t coming off a bye I’d be less sure about my conviction here, but I really do believe they’re going to get the Patriots this weekend. It’s tough to prepare for this offense, that kind of physicality. People just don’t play this way.”
Who could have seen this coming?
To be fair, Whitlock’s take, in a vacuum, isn’t ridiculous. In addition to a week of rest, the Ravens also will be coming off an awfully impressive win in which they took down Russell Wilson and the Seahawks in Seattle. Furthermore, Head coach John Harbaugh has developed a reputation of being somewhat of a thorn in New England’s side over the past decade.
Still, it’s laughable how little will power Whitlock had with his Patriots-inspired promise. Should New England improve to 9-0 on Sunday night, we only can imagine how the longtime pundit will face the music.
