The Baltimore Ravens started off their season on the right foot, beating the Miami Dolphins 59-10 in Week 1. It puts them at the top of the AFC North while silencing plenty of critics that weren’t giving the Ravens enough credit coming into this season. Because of the drubbing they put on Miami, Baltimore found themselves skyrocketing up the power rankings for Week 2.
This week, the Ravens will take on another team in the process of rebuilding in the Arizona Cardinals. Baltimore will take on former teammates Terrell Suggs and Michael Crabtree while also looking to stop rookie quarterback Kyler Murray.
With the dominant performance they had last week, the Ravens find themselves as 13.5-point favorites for Week 2 over the Cardinals, according to BetMGM. It’s the second-highest spread of the week, right behind the 18.5 points for the New England Patriots vs. Dolphins game.
It makes perfect sense why oddsmakers are going all-in on Baltimore this week. Arizona failed to protect Murray very much last week against the Detroit Lions, giving up five sacks. The Cardinals’ defense also might not be any better than what Miami put on the field last week, giving up 477 total net yards to the Lions.
With how good Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson looked last week, –earning the AFC’s Offensive Player of the Week award for his performance — Arizona looks ripe to get picked on by Baltimore’s offense. And with an aggressive defense that has been a nightmare for rookie quarterbacks, history points to Murray having a terrible game.
But there are never any guarantees in any game in the NFL. We’ve seen teams upset before and if the Ravens look beyond the Cardinals to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 3, they could very well stumble this week. But oddsmakers sure don’t think that’s going to happen.
