Finalizing week 12 in the NFL, we've got Monday Night Football between the Baltimore Ravens and Los Angeles Chargers! Both teams enter this game with 7 wins, and the Chargers have won 4 out of their last 5 games. As for the Ravens, they've won 3 out of their last 5 games and are coming off a tough road loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
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Best NFL Monday Night Football Anytime TD Scorer & Win Parlays
(Odds Courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook)
Over the years, the Ravens and Chargers have become familiar with each other. They played each other in the AFC wild-card round in 2019 and again in their 2021 regular-season matchup. The Ravens have won four straight over the Chargers in the regular season, and they own the series with a record of 9-5. Could this year be different for the Chargers?
Anything is possible, but it will be tough for the Chargers to stop the Ravens if they're playing without some key starters on defense. They will be without LB Denzel Perryman for this game. Additionally, CB Cam Hart, OLB Bud Dupree, and OLB Khalil Mack are all questionable with limited practices. The Chargers should have DB Derwin James and OLB Joey Bosa for this game, but both players are questionable.
The Ravens should be fairly healthy for this game. The key injuries worth monitoring are DL Travis Jones, C Tyler Linderbaum, and LB Roquan Smith. All three players are questionable for this game, and if I had to guess, Roquan Smith will be the player who is inactive for this game. He did not practice on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday due to a hamstring injury.
Injuries aside, the Ravens enter this game as 2.5-point favorites on DraftKings and the total is set at 50.5 points. So far this season, the Ravens are 5-5-1 ATS, and the Chargers are 7-3 ATS. During the Chargers four game win streak, they've seen strong production from quarterback Justin Herbert. He's thrown for 275+ passing yards in 5 of his last 6 games, and he hasn't thrown an interception since week 2 against Carolina.
Matching up against Herbert will be Ravens QB Lamar Jackson. He played poorly against the Steelers last week and completed a season-low 48.5% of his passes, but prior to that, Jackson had been playing like the MVP of the NFL. In his previous six games, he had thrown for 280+ passing yards in each game. Meanwhile, he compiled 19 passing touchdowns and one interception during those six games. The hope for the Ravens is that Jackson can play like that on Monday Night.
Fortunately for the Ravens, Lamar plays very well on Monday Night Football. In 8 games, he has completed 68.7% of his passes for a total of 1,772 passing yards (221.5-yard average) and 20 touchdowns with no interceptions thrown. Adding to that, he averages almost 10 carries for 78.6 rushing yards in those 8 games. The Ravens are 6-2 in those 8 games with Lamar as the quarterback.
When looking at Lamar’s numbers this season and those 8 games on MNF, all signs point to him finding success through the air. Which is perfectly fine to bet on, but I think it's worth noting that he hasn't scored a rushing touchdown since week 4 against the Buffalo Bills. The Chargers have played quarterbacks pretty well this season, only allowing 26.20 rushing yards per game to quarterbacks.
However, the Chargers haven't played a quarterback with the skill set of Lamar Jackson this season. With plenty of focus on Derrick Henry, Lamar should have opportunities to keep the ball quite a few times for substantial gains. The key will be for the Ravens to stay hot in the red zone. They have scored touchdowns on a league-best 77.8% of their red zone possessions this season.
Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken hyped up his offense’s ability to run the football in the red zone and he labeled Lamar Jackson as "the equalizer." Could he be foreshadowing a big game for his star QB? Cleaning up the mistakes from a week ago against the Steelers will be huge for the Ravens and I think they'll get back on track with a strong performance from their quarterback.
Favorite Bet: Lamar Jackson to Score Anytime / Ravens to Win (+340)
Other bets to consider:
- Ravens QB Lamar Jackson OVER 7.5 rush attempts (-115)
- Chargers RB J.K. Dobbins OVER 12.5 rush attempts (-110)
- Ravens QB Lamar Jackson OVER 238.5 passing yards (-115)
- Chargers WR Quentin Johnson OVER 48.5 receiving yards (-120)
- Ravens -2.5 (-118)
