Ravens vs. Saints Odds & Prediction: Baltimore a Small Road Favorite on MNF

As the Baltimore Ravens and New Orleans Saints close out Week 9 of the 2022 NFL season on Monday Night Football, the home underdog has seen early betting action move the odds in its favor.

The Ravens opened as a 3-point choice in Las Vegas last week and were moved to -2.5 early in the week and to -2 as of Sunday morning. We’ve seen the line move even more in the Saints’ direction since, as it sits Baltimore -1.5 on the oddsboards at DraftKings, FanDuel, and BetMGM.  PointsBet is dealing New Orleans +2 as of this Monday morning update.

The Ravens (5-3 straight up, 3-4-1 against the spread) are frontrunners in the AFC North after finishing last in the division in 2021.

They are coming off an extended break after beating the Bucs in Tampa Bay last Thursday, 27-22. The last time a team came off a midweek night game and didn’t play again till 11 days later was Buffalo in Week 2. The Bills then pummeled Tennessee, which was on standard rest, 41-7.

However, league-wide, teams off a Thursday game this year are 5-9 (6-8 ATS).

New Orleans was a 24-0 winner over visiting Las Vegas last week, a game in which the Raiders didn’t cross midfield until the final two minutes. Yet even after that game, New Orleans still ranks 28th in points allowed per game with 25.

This will mark only the second time in the Saints’ past 18 home MNF games, dating to 2007, that they will be the underdog. They were in that spot last year versus Miami and lost 20-3 as a 2.5-point dog with rookie QB Ian Book inserted as New Orleans’ emergency starter. The Saints had only 164 yards of total offense.

In the Saints’ 16 straight games as an MNF favorite before that, they went 11-5 SU/8-8 ATS.

The last time Baltimore and New Orleans met, a 24-23 Ravens home win in 2018 as a 2.5-point dog, it was QB Lamar Jackson’s rookie season and it would be three more weeks before he supplanted Joe Flacco as Baltimore’s starter.

Entering Week 9 this season, the former league MVP stands 10th on the passer-rating chart with 15 TDs throws and six INTs. He’s also 10th in the league in rushing with 553 yards. That’s balance.

Also read: MNF props and anytime touchdown scorer bets

His counterpart Monday night is expected to be veteran Andy Dalton, who will be making his sixth straight start since Jameis Winston was sidelined by ankle/back issues. Winston no longer is on the injury report but hasn’t regained his job as Dalton has vaulted to eighth on the passer chart. But unlike Jackson, Dalton hasn’t made his mark in the rushing game. In case you’d like to know, he’s tied for 135th with 28 yards.

Both teams have injury issues but have been working around them.

New Orleans has been without WRs Michael Thomas and Jarvis Landry in recent weeks, but rookie WR Chris Olave has been a standout with a team-high 547 yards and a norm of 14.8 yards a catch. And in the backfield, RB Alvan Kamara has totaled 700 yards from scrimmage. There are reports Landry could even return from an ankle injury for this one.

The Saints’ offensive line has produced as well, not allowing a sack the past two games and covering 80 drop-backs. Only Jacksonville has kept its QB clean in consecutive outings.

It would help, though, if New Orleans got back four-time Pro Bowl cornerback Marshon Lattimore. He’s missed the past four games while wrestling with an abdomen injury (questionable for Monday).

As for Baltimore, fleet WR Rashod Bateman (19 yards a catch) is expected to sit out with a foot injury. But they might get back bulldozing RB Gus Edwards, who is “day-to-day” with a hamstring injury.