Ravens vs. Rams: Picks and predictions from Ebony Bird

Site Expert, Richard Bradshaw:

The Los Angeles Rams are experiencing a bit of a Super Bowl hangover in 2019. The 2018 superstar Rams are nowhere to be found and look entirely exposed and washed up. While they remain a talented squad, they remain equally, if not more, flawed. The Baltimore Ravens don’t have this problem

Offensively, Baltimore is as good as it gets. Lamar Jackson is perhaps the best player in the league right now and is undoubtedly the most exciting one. The offense can put up points at will against even the best defenses the league has to offer. No offense, LA, but this defense isn’t going to match up well with the Ravens run-heavy, big-play styled output.

Defensively, Baltimore has been improving weekly. It feels like the unit has a slow start to each year, but 2019 felt prolonged. Right now, they’re firing on all cylinders and look to be getting hot when it matters most. This doesn’t spell good news for the Rams.

We know that Baltimore will be able to safely put up 25+ points; it’ll be up to the defense to make sure that LA is out of the game fast by forcing turnovers and restricting the Rams offense. While the latter has often been its own worst enemy this season, the Ravens defense will still need to play their best game of 2019 if nothing else than to set a precedent to end the year.

The Baltimore Ravens are the better team than the Los Angeles Rams, and that’s all their is to it. This game likely won’t be pretty, and I expect this game to be won handily by Baltimore thanks to the defense having its best outing of the season.

Bold prediction: Defense racks up five sacks, forces two turnovers

Score prediction: Ravens 30 Rams 14