The NFL regular season will officially be at its halfway point following tonight’s game between the Ravens and Saints! It’s been a crazy and unpredictable year in the league, with many teams failing and exceeding expectations, and all we can hope for is an equally entertaining last nine weeks.
The Ravens
Tonight, the Ravens come into New Orleans as 1.5-point favourites. Baltimore is currently in the thick of the AFC playoff race and leads the AFC North with a record of 5-3. However, with the Bengals winning this week to move to 5-4, the Ravens must win to stay a full game ahead of their divisional rivals. So far this year, the team hasn’t gotten much without working for it. 6 of their eight games have been decided by five points or less, and in all three of their losses, they’ve had leads of at least 10 points.
For tonight, they’ll be looking to survive through a crowded injury list. Most notably, Lamar will once again be without his top target Mark Andrews due to a shoulder injury. Isaiah Likely will hope to fill in for Andrews just as he did last week, where the rookie made six grabs for 77 yards and a touchdown.
On the other sideline, the New Orleans Saints will be looking for their second straight win. Alvin Kamara should see a lot of looks again after exploding last week for three scores and over 150 combined yards through the passing and running game. Even though the team comes into tonight with a record of 3-5, a win would tie them for the lead in the NFC South. With the way the NFC has played out so far, winning this division might just be an easier way into the playoffs than fighting for a wildcard position with teams like Dallas, New York and San Fransisco. For the Saints to compete tonight, they’ll need to get another solid performance from Andy Dalton. The veteran will be looking to build off last week, where he threw for 229 yards and two touchdowns while committing no turnovers.
Ravens and Saints – The Pick
This Ravens and Saints game truly depends on which Saints team shows up tonight. If it’s the one we saw last week in a 24-0 win against the Raiders, tonight’s matchup will be a great one. However, if it’s the team that we saw lose five of six games before that with zero scores from their best offensive player, things may not go their way against a talented Ravens team. With Baltimore injured and away from home, we expect a close game but still a win. We’ll take the Ravens to cover the spread.
