Lions vs Ravens Predictions: Week 3 Monday Night Football Preview

Detroit Lions @ Baltimore Ravens 

Line: Ravens -4.5

Total: 53.5

We bring Week 3 to a close with one of the most exciting games of the week! Detroit travels to Baltimore with the home team listed as 4.5 point favorites in a game featuring a 53 point total and plenty of offense expected. Kick-off is set for 8:15 ET and the game will be broadcast on ESPN. 

Detroit Lions

Detroit heads to Baltimore 1-1 on the season and we are seeing pretty even action across the board on both teams tonight from a betting standpoint. They bounced back in a big way against the Bears at home last weekend – but I’m not sure if that really moves the needle for me. That was a nightmare spot for Ben Johnson going back against his former team and the Lions are still a very good football team – I just don’t think they’re elite. Chicago doesn’t have the personnel or culture to overcome those teams yet in my opinion, while the Ravens profile better from nearly every facet of the game. QB, coach, offense and defense all point to the Ravens in this one for me. 

That being said, with a huge 50 point total I think we see plenty of scoring from both sides. Jared Goff has always struggled on the road in his career and I do think this is a spot where they can run the ball especially with some key injuries on the Ravens defensive side of the ball. If they get down, we could see Jahmyr Gibbs involved heavily as a pass catcher, similar to his 10 catch performance in Week 1 against Green Bay.  

 

Baltimore Ravens

The Ravens come into this game with a 1-1 record, and have a ton of historical trends on their side. Jim Harbaugh has often been money in these primetime games vs NFC teams while he also owns a great record against the Lions as well. I don’t put a ton of stock into that stuff, but overall I think the Ravens offense is a terrible match-up for how the Lions want to defend teams. Detroit has been very stubborn under Glenn/Sheppard and refuse to stray away from their man-heavy coverage regardless of opponents. It doesn’t make sense to me to try and man up these teams that have speed on offense – Flowers and Bateman – and a mobile QB. Detroit also has a suspect run-defense in my opinion and that could be trouble against Derrick Henry. Like Harbaugh, Lamar has an elite record against NFC teams and I think it’s hard for them to adjust to his speed when they don’t see him often. Detroit last faced Baltimore in 2023 falling by almost 30 points. This is a spot where the Ravens offense can roll on the back of Lamar, Derrick Henry and Zay Flowers. Flowers owns over 40% of Jackson’s targets this season and has some of the best splits vs man-coverage in the NFL over the last few seasons. It’s worth noting he’s been targeted on over 30% of his routes vs man this season per FantasyPoints Data. 

Score Prediction: Ravens 37, Lions 24

Touchdown Prediction: Zay Flowers