Saints Ravens Betting – Proud Baltimore “D” Steps Up Against Saints
Online betting players have watched the Baltimore Ravens consistently rank among the top defenses in the league over the last decade, and while they haven’t been as strong as usual, they still have enough veterans on their team to come up in big games. That’s why we’re going to take them when the Ravens host the defending Super Bowl champions New Orleans Saints on Sunday.
- What: NFL betting
- When: Sunday, December 19th, 1:00 PM ET
- Where: M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, MD
- Pick: Baltimore Ravens
What’s On The Line
The streaking Saints (10-3) won their sixth in a row with a 31-13 victory over the St. Louis Rams at home, and it was their fifth consecutive game with 30 points or more. The Ravens (9-4) kept their playoff hopes alive with a 34-28 overtime win at the Houston Texans, setting up this massive contest. Both teams are in tough divisions that they may be unable to win, so a victory would set them up in terms of the race for the wild cards in their conferences.
Offensive Matchups: Saints Ravens Betting
Everyone is talking about the New England Patriots offense, and for good reason, but that is allowing New Orleans to roll under the radar. Drew Brees passed for 221 yards and three touchdowns, although he was picked off twice. The Saints ran for 132 yards, and Brees did a good job of spreading the ball around as five receivers had at least four receptions. The line has been solid, which gives Brees time to find his receivers, and the Saints’ offense is playing as well as anyone in the league right now.
Joe Flacco threw for 235 yards and a pair of touchdowns for the Ravens, and both scores went to Derrick Mason, who also dropped a sure score early in the game. Ray Rice ran for only 54 yards, but he had eight catches for 66 yards for the Ravens, who scored on all three of their red-zone trips, and they were 8-of-15 on third down. But they took their foot off the gas in the second half, and it almost cost them the game.
Betting Edge: Saints
Defensive Matchups: Saints Ravens Betting
New Orleans swarmed St. Louis last week, sacking Sam Bradford three times and pressuring him more, which helped force three turnovers (one of which was returned 96 yards for a score). The Saints are sixth in the league defensively, and even though they’re not forcing takeaways like last year, they’re much more solid from front to back. If there was a negative in this game, it’s that the Saints gave up 136 yards on the ground at an average of 5.7 yards per carry, but thanks to the big lead, St. Louis had to get away from the running game.
Baltimore is four spots below the Saints in 10th place, but they may have more of an intimidation factor, led by Ray Lewis, who had nine tackles against the Texans. But it wasn’t all good for the Ravens, who were great for the first half of the game, but they allowed the Texans to come all the way back from a 21-point deficit in the third quarter. Josh Wilson picked off Matt Schaub and ran it back 12 yards to the house, which masked what was a very shady second half to this game for Baltimore, but still, we trust them to make a stop before the Saints.
Betting Edge: Draw
Notable Injuries: Saints Ravens Betting
Running backs Julius Jones (ankle) and Chris Ivory (hamstring) will have to be watched this week, along with offensive tackle Charles Brown (back) for the Saints.
Tight end Todd Heap (hamstring) and cornerback Fabian Washington (thigh) both missed the Monday night game, and you should check back on their availability for the Ravens.
Betting Edge: Draw
Outlook and Pick: Saints Ravens Betting
NFL betting lines aren’t out for this game yet as the Ravens just played on Monday night, but they’ll probably be a small favorite at home in this contest. The Ravens are 3-2 SU and ATS in their last five games at home against the Saints, although the last one didn’t come since 2002. Baltimore is only 2-4 ATS at home this season, while the Saints are 2-4 ATS away from home, so this is going to be interesting. The Saints have been inside for most of this current streak, except for a win against the Cincinnati Bengals, who don’t have a very good defense, so it’ll be interesting to see how they handle being outside against a defense like Baltimore. We think Lewis will have this defense ready to go this weekend, and Brees doesn’t have good numbers in two games against Baltimore (three touchdowns, six picks). Take Baltimore in an SU sports betting victory.
Stan’s Pick: Baltimore Ravens
