Baltimore Ravens vs Minnesota Vikings Point Spread Picks

Jesse Minter is treating this week's joint practices, not Saturday's game, as the real proving ground for Lamar Jackson, Derrick Henry, and the rest of Baltimore's first unit, and Jackson has a long track record of skipping preseason games entirely. That leaves Tyler Huntley running the offense again, a quarterback with real starting snaps on his resume, with undrafted rookie Joe Fagnano lined up for another heavy workload after handling the bulk of the pass attempts last week. Minnesota's picture is thinner. Kyler Murray sits too, but the group behind him is murkier: J.J. McCarthy already lost the starting job to Murray this spring, and Max Brosmer's wrist issue this week could push even more snaps onto McCarthy and Carson Wentz. Huntley over that group is the mismatch this afternoon, and it's the same collection of second and third-string arms on both sidelines that tends to produce blown coverages and extra points. Baltimore gets the benefit of the doubt with the points this afternoon. Baltimore with the points is my play, and the total climbs right alongside it — take the OVER too.

Combine the Ravens (-215) and the Knicks (-1182) into a 2-team parlay at -170 odds.

Baltimore lost a tough one last week 27-24 to the Bears in overtime after climbing back from a 14-point deficit with a kickoff and punt return for touchdowns. Minnesota defeated Green Bay 23-10, but the big story was Aaron Rodgers breaking his collarbone in the first quarter making the Vikings' task much easier as Brett Hundley entered the game and threw three interceptions. Case Keenum is expected to make his fourth start of the season for Minnesota with Sam Bradford still out with a knee injury. Teddy Bridgewater is coming off the physically unable to perform list, but probably won't play this week. The Vikings are just 1-5 ATS their last six games after a win. The Ravens have gone OVER their last two games, including the game against Chicago, which soared OVER by 11.5 points. Baltimore has scored 54 points its last two games, but has been victimized by a porous run defense, which is ranked third-to-last in the league. Nevertheless, the Vikings have not covered their last two games when favored and can't be trusted to cover the number in this matchup. Take the Ravens and the OVER.

The Baltimore Ravens started the season with a Super Bowl hangover, going 3-5 in the first half of the season. They have worked their way back to .500 at 6-6, and have become a potential playoff team. The Ravens have won two straight games, and win here will give them their first three-game winning streak of the season. The improved play is coming at the right time. Minnesota is coming off a pair of overtime games. Through 12 games, the Vikings have allowed all 12 opponents to score 20 points or more. That has led them to have played nine of their twelve games OVER the total. This total is set way too low as 11 of the Vikings' 12 games on the season have topped this total. While the defense has been horrible (30.5 points per game allowed), the offense has been good enough to score 20 or more in 10 of the 12 games. The Ravens' offense has been better as the season has progressed, and should have their way with a poor Vikings' stop unit. Make the play on the OVER.