St Louis Rams (4-5 SU, 4-5 ATS) vs. Baltimore Ravens (2-7 SU, 1-7-1 ATS)
NFL Football Week 11
Date/Time: Sunday, November 22, 1:00pm
Where: M&T Bank Stadium Baltimore, MD
TV: Fox
by Bob, NCAA Football Handicapper, Predictem.com
Point Spread: STL +2 / BAL -2
Over/Under Total: 41.5
This will be of the less intriguing games of the NFL weekend when the St Louis Rams travel east to take on the Baltimore Ravens. Neither team has been overly impressive this season, but the Rams are showing signs that they are headed in the right direction as an organization. The Ravens, ehhhh. So to me, this game is not very exciting, but we still need to break it down.
The Ravens open up as a two point favorite at home over the Rams and the total points have been set at 41.5. We all know the Ravens are having a rough season at 2-7 overall, but what is more staggering is that they have only covered one spread this season, thats right, only once has Baltimore covered the points in their game. The Rams are slightly better at 4-5 against the spread which also matches their actual record. Due to those numbers, 64% of the action is on the Rams to come into Maryland and cover, and with a spread like this, that means they expect the Rams to probably win the game outright. NFL games can be crazy and this one could go either direction in my opinion.
Although the St Louis Rams are just 4-5 on the season and a distant 2nd place in the NFC West division, this team has shown signs of life this season. They have notched wins over the Seahawks and the Cardinals already and they could potentially make a small run at the division title, but it is games like these that they MUST win in order to have any shot at all. The Rams are not very good passing the ball, well to be honest, they are down right bad. St Louis ranks dead last in the NFL in passing yards with just 177 a game, but this is not too damaging since they are ranked 5th in rushing. The work horse for the Rams offense has been Todd Gurley. He leads the team in rushing and will probably win the rookie of the year, or at least battle Amari Cooper of Oakland for that honor. On the defensive side of the ball, the Rams are good, really good. Allowing just 20.3 points per game, this ranks the St Louis Rams as one of the top ten defenses in the entire NFL. If these guys could get some help from the offense, this could be a very dangerous team. That is the key to this game for the Ramsscore some points. I think the defense will be able to keep the Ravens offense in check, but if they cannot score at least 20-23 points, it may be for nothing. Score!
The Baltimore Ravens are having a miserable 2015. I thought they would be on the outside looking in at the playoff picture, but never did I see them starting 2-7. Schedule wise, the Ravens have played a rather tough one, but not 2-7 tough. These guys should be battling to be a .500 team at least. However, they arent. Baltimore at this point is just trying to salvage their season and pride. The offense is not terrible. Led by Joe Flacco, the Ravens have the 9th best passing offense in the NFL while the run game averages about 100 a game, maybe a little less. For many seasons, the Ravens counted on their amazing defense to win games. Ray Lewis, Terrell Suggs, and guys like that were the anchors that kept them in games. Then it was just a matter of Joe Flacco making the plays down the stretch. Well, the Baltimore defense is now allowing 26 points a game and is not even ranked in the top 20 of the 32 team NFL. If the Ravens want to win this weekend to get to 3-7, they are going to have to get some stops. If they can halter the run game of the Rams and make them rely on the arm of Nick Foles, game over, Ravens win. If Todd Gurley or any of the other Rams running backs get going, it could be a very long day for the home team.
Home favorite in a game where I really do not think they are close to the better team. This tells me to ride the Rams all the way and that is what I am going to do. The Rams let me down a time or two over the last week against the spread, but I like this match up for them and I like the Rams to win a sloppily played 19-14 ball game.
Bobs Pick to Cover the Point Spread: ST LOUIS RAMS +2 POINTS
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