Baltimore Ravens vs Jacksonville Jaguars Point Spread Picks

Baltimore hasn't been overwhelming opponents, but the Ravens are on a four-game win streak after defeating Carolina 13-3 and forcing three fourth-quarter turnovers. Lamar Jackson ran for a 1-yard TD with 7:16 left and Demarcus Robinson had nine catches for 128 yards for the Ravens. Jackson skipped a practice this week with a minor hip injury, but says he will play. Baltimore is #10 in the league in scoring defense allowing 19.9 points per game and #3 in rush defense (86.4 yards per game) and six of its past seven games have stayed UNDER. Jacksonville has gone UNDER four in a row and the Jaguars have lost six of their past seven games with a 1-5-1 ATS record after losing 27-17 at Kansas City before its bye week. Trevor Lawrence still is making rookie mistakes, but he has thrown for 2,334 yards and 13 TDs with six interceptions and the Jags aren't quite there yet as far as becoming a playoff-contending team. The Ravens are 10-1 ATS in Week 12 and they have covered four of their past five road games. Jacksonville is 3-12 ATS its past 15 games after a loss and 5-11 ATS overall its past 16 home games. Baltimore is 14-6 UNDER on the road and 20-7 UNDER after allowing fewer than 15 points its previous game and the Jaguars are 20-7 UNDER versus teams with winning records. Take the Ravens and the UNDER.

Jacksonville's coach Doug Marrone has a losing record in preseason. They upgraded the quarterback spot by signing Nick Foles, but this defense hasn't show up in Week 1 of preseason the last two years. In 2018 they allowed 265 yards and 24 points in a loss at home to the Saints, and two years ago they surrendered 24 points and 427 yards in a high-scoring affair against New England. Now they head to Baltimore, whose coach John Harbaugh is an astonishing 33-12 straight-up in preseason, including a 32-9 run. The last two preseasons the Ravens are a perfect 9-0 in August and Harbaugh is 11-1 straight-up in Week 1. Last preseason the Ravens averaged 31.5 points at home and in their last six preseason contests at home they've scored 33, 30, 23, 13, 22 and 30 points (5-1 ATS) -- an average of 25.1 points. Take Baltimore and the OVER.

The Jacksonville Jaguars have not had a winning season since 2007, but they appear to be getting closer. They opened with a big win on the road in Houston, then hosted Tennessee and threw up a stinker in losing 37-16. The Ravens have fast tracked themselves to a 2-0 start, but wins vs. Cincinnati and Cleveland at this point don't say a whole lot. The Ravens injury list is growing, and when you have as many opportunities as they had in the first two games and come away with a total of 44 points, despite forcing 10 turnovers, the offense is simply not getting it done. Teams forcing five turnovers have averaged 28.3 points per game and they have been short of an average team in that situation. Joe Flacco has not been that great in his career with a line from PK to -7 as he is just 17-22 ATS. I think that the Jags will surprise here, as they did in Houston. Play on Jacksonville.