Back Ravens covering as favorites vs Chargers Sunday night

When browsing through the spreads of Sunday’s NFL Week 12 games, I was stunned to see a spread of just 3.5 points in favor of the Ravens against the Chargers for Sunday Night Football.

You can’t find two teams that inspire polar opposite amounts of confidence in me watching them play than these teams. I’ve been down on the Chargers all season, and I don’t think they deserve being just 3.5 point underdogs even if they’re the home team.

The sportsbook I’m betting on is BetMGM where the odds are -110. Use the BetMGM bonus code if you’re a brand new player and you can get $200 in bonus bets after you settle any bet of $10 or more no matter if it wins or loses.

(Sunday, 8:20 p.m. ET, NBC)

As I mentioned atop this piece, the Chargers are a team I can’t believe in until I see them put their pieces together. Brandon Staley is a defensive coach, but has one of the league’s worst defenses despite having Derwin James, Khalil Mack, and Joey Bosa.

Although now the job will be made much tougher without Bosa, who was put on IR this week. Going into this week, Los Angeles’ defense rank 23rd in scoring, last against the pass, and 12th against the run.

Having a struggling defense before against Lamar Jackson is a recipe for disaster, as Jackson has continued to impress me as a passer despite his numbers not popping off the page. Even his rushing totals aren’t what you’d expect, but he’s just as dangerous as ever with his legs when I watch him play.

He’s not alone in contributing to the ground game with this team, as Keaton Mitchell (10.3 YPC) and Gus Edwards (10 touchdowns) are a fantastic one-two punch out of the backfield. That said, the Ravens will have to adjust to life without Mark Andrews this week and rely more on Zay Flowers and company.

Baltimore is fourth in the NFL in points per game, and I think they’ll be alright without Andrews. But the Chargers offense concerns me despite ranking eighth in points per game. It starts with Austin Ekeler, who hasn’t had the same burst he’s had the last few seasons.

When running in-between the tackles, Ekeler has struggled. He still contributes in the passing attack however, as he and Keenan Allen are being relied on more than ever. Allen in particular is having one of the best seasons of his career despite having some issues with drops (As has the whole wide receiver room).

Defensively, I trust Baltimore to generate pressure on Herbert and keep the run game contained with their outstanding linebacking duo of Patrick Queen and DPOY candidate Roquan Smith.

Throughout the last few years, Baltimore has been a team that’s admittedly blown more games than they should. But they win more games than not every year and take care of business against teams more often than not.

The Chargers specialize in blowing leads, and that’s been going on throughout Herbert and Staley’s whole tenures. In fact, five of their six losses this season have been by one possession.

I don’t think Baltimore are a world beating operation, especially without Andrews. But their ground game is lethal, and Jackson’s pass catchers are capable of stepping up. The former MVP is showing impressive growth as a passer, and I think that’ll be huge against the Chargers’ last ranked pass defense.

The Chargers’ home-field advantage is arguably the least impactful in the NFL, so that doesn’t hold any merit to me either. When it’s all said and done, I think we leave Sunday night talking about the Chargers needing to enter a new chapter while being impressed with Baltimore finding a way to win by more than four points without Andrews.

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