Week 9 in the NFL finishes up in New Orleans where the Ravens and Saints will go head-to-head for a "Monday Night Football" showdown at Caesars Superdome.
Both of these teams are coming off wins in Week 8 as the Saints were able to blank the Raiders in a 24-0 win. As for Baltimore, they took down the Buccaneers in Tampa in the Week 8 opener on Thursday. While each club may be riding high off their respective wins, they are a bit banged up. They both saw star wide receivers -- Michael Thomas and Rashod Bateman -- head to season-ending IR and the Ravens will also be without star tight end Mark Andrews due to knee and shoulder injuries, so they'll each be battling some adversity.
Here, we'll specifically be looking at the different betting angles that this game has to offer. Along with the spread and total, we'll also take a look at several player props and hand in our picks for how we see this showdown unfolding.
All NFL odds via Caesars Sportsbook.
How to watch
Date: Monday, Nov. 7 | Time: 8:15 p.m. ET
Location: Caesars Superdome (New Orleans, LA)
TV: ESPN | Stream: fuboTV (try for free)
Follow: CBS Sports App
Odds: Ravens -1.5, O/U 46.5
Line movement
The Ravens were a 3.5-point favorite in the lookahead before Week 8 and that dipped to a field goal advantage once the weekend came to a close. As the week progressed and more injury news developed with the Saints, this line started to sink. By the time it was clear that Andrews was going to be downgraded to out, the line fell to Ravens -1.5 by Sunday morning.
The pick: Saints +1.5. When everyone is healthy, the Ravens are the better football team. That said, this club is just too banged up to back at the moment with rookie tight end Isaiah Likely and wideout Devin Duvernay being Lamar Jackson's top two options in the passing game. While the loss of Michael Thomas for the year does sting for New Orleans, Chris Olave has shown he is more than capable of carrying a heavy workload in the passing game, so I don't believe their offense will suffer much especially with Alvin Kamara headlining the unit. Andy Dalton has also played well for this team when he's under center as they average 29.6 points per game and the quarterback has a passer rating of 97.8. Yes, Dalton has struggled in primetime games historically, but he's played well at home this season, throwing five touchdowns to just one interception.
Key trend: Ravens are 1-3-1 ATS in their last five games.
Over/Under total
As you may expect with several stars missing, the total has sunk quite a bit. After opening at 49 in the lookahead, this total did drop a point coming out of Week 8 to 48. Once the health statuses for both sides started to roll out on Friday, we saw this number dip to 47.5 on Friday, 47 on Saturday, and now sits at 46.5 as of Monday morning.
The pick: Over 46.5. The Saints are averaging nearly 30 points a game with Dalton under center and, while the Ravens may not have their top pass-catching options, Lamar Jackson is someone who can generate plenty of points on his own. It also doesn't hurt that New Orleans will once again be without starting corner Marshon Lattimore for this game as well.
Key trend: Over is 4-1 in the Ravens last five Monday games.
Lamar Jackson props
- Passing touchdowns: 1.5 (Over +114, Under -157)
- Passing yards: 210.5 (Over -117, Under -117)
- Rushing yards: 60.5 (Over -104, Under -131)
- Passing attempts: 29.5 (Over -103, Under -133)
- Rushing attempts: 9.5 (Over -139, Under +102)
- Longest pass completion: 34.5 (Over -123, Under -111)
- Completions: 18.5 (Over -137, Under +100)
- Interceptions: 0.5 (Over -115, Under -119)
Jackson has seen double-digit carries in four of his eight games played this season and averages 9.4 yards per attempt on the year as a whole. With the Ravens limited at the skill positions, their best chance of pulling off chunk plays could come by utilizing Jackson's legs, which is why the Over on both his attempts and rushing yards are a solid way to look. In terms of his passing props, I'd lean Over on his 29.5 pass attempts. He's gone over this number in three of his last four games and if Baltimore finds itself trailing Jackson may be forced to throw it a bit more often.
Andy Dalton props
- Passing touchdowns: 1.5 (Over +104, Under -142)
- Passing yards: 233.5 (Over -121, Under -113)
- Rushing yards: 4.5 (Over -113, Under -121)
- Longest pass completion: 35.5 (Over -117, Under -117)
- Interceptions: 0.5 (Over -137, Under +100)
If the Saints get into the red zone, Alvin Kamara will be the one that is called to bring New Orleans across the goal line and not Dalton. With that in mind, there's a lean on the Under for Dalton's passing touchdowns. Out of this bunch, the Over on Dalton's 233.5 passing yards is an interesting place to look. The Ravens are allowing 6.9 yards per pass attempt coming into Week 9, which ranks in the bottom half of the league. Opposing quarterbacks have also gone over this number in the past two games against Baltimore.
Player props to consider
Devin Duvernay total receiving yards: Over 43.5 (-137). Duvernay was already a favorite target of Jackson's as the wideout has averaged four targets and 39.1 yards per game this season. With the Ravens pass-catching group depleted, that volume should only increase.
Chris Olave total receptions: Over 5.5 (-101). The Saints have not been shy about using Olave when he's on the field. This season, he has three games where he's seen at least 13 targets, including Week 7 against Arizona where he saw 14 targets from Andy Dalton. The Ravens are allowing opposing quarterbacks to complete 66.13% of their passes this season, which ranks 21st in the NFL.
