"Thursday Night Football" in Week 8 figured to be a matchup of two teams going in opposite directions. But nobody could have predicted the Dolphins, not the Ravens, would be the team fighting for AFC playoff contention by the time Thursday's Miami-Baltimore game arrived just before midseason.
Thursday night's game, set to kick off at 8:25 p.m. ET and air on CBS and NFL Network, also will be available via live stream through Amazon Prime Video. The Dolphins (4-2) are coming off two consecutive comeback wins, which have kept them in the AFC East hunt. The Ravens (3-4) are coming off two consecutive losses and are fading fast in the AFC North.
Dolphins quarterback Matt Moore, who filled in for an injured Jay Cutler last week in Miami, will make his first start of the season Thursday night. His goal will be to ignite an offense averaging an embarrassing 15.3 points per game this season, 31st in the NFL. Of course, the Joe Flacco-led Ravens offense hasn't been much better, averaging 18.6 points per game and ranking 23rd in that category.
DOLPHINS vs. RAVENS PICKS:
Against the spread | Straight up
Here is all the info you need to watch Dolphins vs. Ravens on "Thursday Night Football."
Dolphins vs. Ravens: Live stream, TV channel, network
Dolphins vs. Ravens: Live stream | Game center
Kickoff time: 8:25 p.m. ET
TV networks: CBS, NFL Network
Thursday night's game in Baltimore will air nationally on CBS and NFL Network. It's the fifth of five Thursday night games that were scheduled to be televised on CBS throughout the season as part of the NFL's "Thursday Night Football" expansion package for 2016 and '17. NBC also will carry five Thursday night games this season, beginning in Week 10 and not including the NFL season-opener. In addition to CBS and NBC, NFL Network broadcasts every Thursday night game of the season.
Both CBS and NBC provide their lead broadcasters for "Thursday Night Football," meaning Jim Nantz and Tony Romo will call the Dolphins-Ravens game Thursday night from the booth in Baltimore. Tracy Wolfson and Jay Feely will serve as field reporters for CBS.
Because it won an offseason bidding war, Amazon will provide live streaming services for 10 Thursday Night Football games in 2017. Dolphins vs. Ravens is the fifth of such games, which coincide with the CBS and NBC "Thursday Night Football" broadcast schedules. Amazon also provided a live stream for the Week 3 Jaguars-Ravens game in London. Twitter held the rights to live stream "Thursday Night Football" games in 2016.
Dolphins vs. Ravens: Picks, predictions, odds, point spread
Per Bovada, the Ravens opened as three-point favorites over the Dolphins, and that spread remained intact as of Thursday morning. The over/under points total was set at 37 1/2.
SN's Vinnie Iyer in his Week 8 NFL picks against the spread picked the Dolphins to upset the Ravens in a close game, 20-17.
SN's David Steele in his Week 8 NFL picks straight up also picked the Dolphins to beat the Ravens but in more convincing fashion, 23-16.