Ever walk into a room and feel like everyone in there knows something you don’t?
I feel like that tonight as I handicap the Monday Night Football contest between the Baltimore Ravens and New Orleans Saints who meet in a National Football League game to wrap up ninth week regular season action.
My preseason pick to win the Super Bowl was the Baltimore Ravens with an 18 to 1 payout, but they have looked like they deserved longer odds for much of this season. While they sit alone atop the AFC North standings, that is in great part attributable to the drop off of their division competition. The AFC North is home to the defending AFC Champion Cincinnati Bengals, who won their fifth game in nine starts yesterday. The other two teams in this division, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns, both have losing records.
Okay, so the Ravens five wins in eight decisions is good enough for first place, but does this team look like a squad that could emerge from the AFC Playoffs with a berth in Super Bowl LVII?
Not yet.
Their record includes only three point spread wins and a defense that has only once limited their opponent to less than 20 points since opening day. The offense, led by quarterback Lamar Jackson, has only twice scored more than 30 points and haven’t done so since a third week win over the New England Patriots.