NFL
(10/27/22) 8:15 PM Eastern.
Spread: Ravens -1.5 / Buccaneers +1.5
Moneyline: Ravens -125 / Buccs +105
Total: Over / Under 45
Week 8 of the NFL season kicks off with the Baltimore Ravens heading south to take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This game kicks off at 8:15p.m. eastern time at Raymond James Stadium.
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Baltimore Ravens (4-3)
Lamar and the Ravens beat the Cleveland Browns 23-20 last week. They have yet to win back-to-back games this season, blowing multiple double-digit leads. They almost did it again against Cleveland when Justice Hill fumbled on the Browns 20-yard line with just 3 minutes to go. Fortunately, the Baltimore defense was able to prevent the Browns from scoring.
RB Gus Edwards returned last week after missing the entire 2021-22 season, and they fed him the ball against a weak Browns rushing defense. Edwards had 16 carries for 66 yards and two touchdowns, Lamar also ran for 59 yards on 10 attempts. RB Kenyan Drake had a rough day, rushing for just 5 yards on 11 touches after exploding for 119 yards on 10 carries vs the Giants last week.
Lamar had another lackluster day passing, throwing for just 120 yards on 9 of 16 passing, he didn’t record a TD pass for the first time this season. Star TE Mark Andrews also failed to record a catch; he saw just 2 targets on the day. He did get a carry for 4 yards and threw a toss to QB Lamar Jackson on 4th and 1 that resulted in an 11-yard gain.
Defensively the Ravens held on, something they haven’t been able to do for much of this season. They were able to hold the Browns to just 113 yards rushing, which was 50+ yards below their season average. The pass-rush has been hot the last couple games, securing 4 sacks against the NY Giants the week prior and 5 sacks against Cleveland. Justin Houston leads the team in sacks (4) despite playing in just 4 games. Baltimore’s 20 team sacks rank 5th in the NFL.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-4)
They just got blown-out by the 1-5 P.J. Walker led Carolina Panthers by a score of 21-3. One of the most shocking outcomes of any NFL game this season. Though the Buccs losing to the Kenny Pickett led steelers the week before was up there too.
Brady completed 32-49 pass attempts for 290 yards and no scores. The Buccs offense was able to move the ball past the 50 a handful of times but failed to make anything of it. It’s been an issue all season as they were forced to settle for field goals on 4/5 trips into the RedZone vs the Steelers and went 1 for 2 with a FG against Carolina last week. They’re tied for 27th in Red-Zone TD efficiency after ranking 2nd in 2021.
The inability to run the football has something to do with that, Leonard Fournette is averaging just 3.5 yards per carry this season, down from 4.5 last year. 3rd round RB Rachaad White hasn’t found any room either, averaging a measly 2.7 YPC. The offensive line has struggled in short yardage situations, failing to produce a yard when needed.
The Buccaneers defense started the season off hot but has regressed tremendously since then. A slew of injuries has had an effect. This team has been without multiple starters in their secondary for weeks. Safety Logan Ryan hit the IR last week and both CB’s Sean-Murphy Bunting and Carlton Davis were ruled out prior to last weeks game. Then Antoine Winfield came down with a concussion late in the 3rd quarter, the Panthers scored 14 of their 21 points after that. They were able to hang their hat on their rush defense, but the Panthers just put up 173 rushing yards last week and they had just traded Christian McCaffrey.
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Lamar Jackson Anytime Touchdown +190
We've got the Over in this game (Check our previous post for analysis) so we're expecting points. Lamar's averaging 10 carries a game the last 5 weeks and his top red zone threat, TE Mark Andrews, hasn't practiced all week. Even if he does play he won't be 100%. The Red Zone offense will rest squarely on Lamar's legs. TB ranks 7th in rushing TD's allowed but that fails to account for a QB with a running ability like Lamar Jackson. It's going to be tough for Baltimore's RB's to pound it up inside, look for designed QB run plays and for Lamar to pull on zone reads on the goal-line.
