The Ravens were upset in their season opener and have a tall task avoiding going 0-2 facing the Chiefs, who won in Week 1 and have the best betting odds to win the Super Bowl.
The Chiefs opened as a 2.5-point favorite but as of Thursday are a 3.5-point road favorite with the total sitting at 54.5.
After Week 1 the Chiefs are 1-0 and 1-0 ATS and the Ravens are 0-1 and 0-1 ATS.
The Chiefs were at home in their opener beating the Cleveland Browns 33-29 where they killed it in the second half outscoring the Browns 23-7. Patrick Mahomes worked his magic in the comeback with two fourth quarter TD and the KC defense had a late pick to ice the game.
The Ravens were on the road in their opener falling to the Las Vegas Raiders 33-27 in OT. Lamar Jackson had two costly fumbles including one in OT where the Raiders scored on the ensuing drive.
While only Week 2 the Ravens have been beset by injuries. They lost their two starting RB’s and star CB in Marcus Peters in the preseason and now CB Chris Westry and LG Tyre Phillips are out.
These teams met in Week 3 last season in Baltimore where the Chiefs beat the Ravens 34-20.
KC is 4-1 ATS in their last five games facing the Ravens and also 4-1 ATS in their last five games facing them in Baltimore.
Mahomes is the Man
The Chiefs were down 22-10 at the half and Mahomes brought the Chiefs back in the win over the Browns where he passed for 337 yards with three TD and no INT. His pass to Tyreek Hill in the fourth quarter was money and, by the way, Hill had nearly 200 receiving yards in the game.
Travis Kelse had 76 receiving yards in Week 1 and he and Hill combined for three TD. Now they face a Baltimore team missing two starters in their secondary and gave up the mist passing yards in Week 1?
The Chiefs did not run the ball well in their opener with 73 rushing yards and Clyde Edwards-Helaire only had 43 yards and only averaged 3.1 yards per carry. Still, the Ravens need to bring the pressure up-front and if they di not Mahomes will carve them up.
The Ravens had three sacks in the loss to the Raiders and if they do not get more than that in this game they may be in trouble.
Jackson Has to Step Up
Lamar Jackson has a lot of pressure on him in. this game with all of the injures and the fact he fumbled twice last week with the second one costing his team the game. He did pass for 235 yards with a TD and led the team in rushing with 89 yards but he needs to be great in this game and hold onto the rock.
The Ravens did rush for 189 yards even without their top two RBs from last season and the run game is always key for them. That is especially the case in this game facing a KC run D that gave up 153 rushing yards last week in the win over the Browns.
This could be a signature game for Jackson. He is looking at an 0-2 hole with a loss and in the last two seasons no team has made the playoffs after starting 0-2.
The Prediction
The Chiefs are only 1-4 ATS in their last 5 road games and the Ravens are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games as a home underdog. Jackson will have a great game but with a team beset by injuries and facing Mahomes they will not get it done. KC has too much firepower and just like last season in Baltimore the Chiefs will win and cover the spread.
PICK: Chiefs -3.5