The Mercedes-Benz Superdome is the stage for Monday Night Football and the end of Week 9. The New Orleans Saints and the Baltimore Ravens meet in a game that has a lot on the line for both teams.
The Ravens visit the Saints with the mission of continuing to control the AFC North. They’re now 5-3 and have picked up two straight wins, their last against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
New Orleans faces a very different situation with their five losses and three wins. This has them in the penultimate position in the NFC South, barely in front of the fledgling Carolina Panthers.
Saints Turn To Dalton
The Saints have faced highly mobile quarterbacks this season; however, the results have been a mixed bag. They had wins against Geno Smith with the Seattle Seahawks and Marcus Mariota with the Atlanta Falcons. Still, they took losses against Joe Burrow (Cincinnati Bengals), Kyler Murray (Arizona Cardinals) and even Carolina’s Baker Mayfield.
| Ravens | Saints | |
| Moneyline | -130 | +110 |
| Spread | -1.5 (-110) | +1.5 (-110) |
| Over/Under | O46.5 (110) | U46.5 (-110) |
| Courtesy of BetMGM |
The Saints are coming off their best defensive performance after beating the Raiders 24-0 in Week 8, where they had less than 38 yards against in 13 attempts. On offense, they are the fourth team with the most total yards this season at 394.4 per game.
However, Andy Dalton has been inconsistent under center. Last week’s performance followed an abysmal showing just a week earlier. The Saints will start him again tonight to see what he’s made of, despite a 2-6 Monday Night Football career record.
Those six losses are consecutive across his most recent appearances. In contrast, Ravens QB Lamar Jackson is 11-4 in Monday night games.
So far this season, Jackson has 1,635 passing yards with 15 TDs through the air for the Ravens. On the ground, he has 553 more yards and two touchdowns. Baltimore has proven that it is capable of switching things up with relative ease in order to keep defenses guessing, and that will be their strength for the rest of the season.
Injuries Plague Both Sides
A couple of days ago, it was announced that the Ravens lost wide receiver Rashod Bateman for a few weeks because of an injury to one of his feet, although it was estimated that he would return. That’s no longer the case.
Ravens head coach John Harbaugh revealed that Bateman will not play again in the season, as he will need surgery for a Lisfranc fracture. Bateman was having an outstanding season in his second year as a pro with Baltimore, accumulating 15 receptions for 285 yards, and two TDs. DeSean Jackson will make his debut as Bateman’s replacement.
Perhaps worse than losing Bateman is losing Mark Andrews. The tight end had 488 yards and five TDs this season, but didn’t travel with the team to New Orleans. Rookie Isaiah Likely is the best target to fill in, especially after his performance against the Bucs last week.
The Saints are dealing with their issues, as well. Running back Michael Thomas is out for the season due to injury, as are running back Mark Ingram and linebacker Chase Hansen.
Saints wide receiver Jarvis Landry is also questionable for today’s game. In addition, on defense, cornerback Marshon Lattimore is out, which is going to be a problem.
The sportsbooks view this as a tight matchup, only barely giving the Ravens the benefit of the doubt. However, if Dalton keeps his head in the game, the Saints can win, especially since they’re playing on their own turf.
The 46.5 total, despite the performances of these teams, however, seems high. This is going to be a hard-fought contest and both teams are missing key offensive elements.
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