The Detroit Lions are facing a tough matchup on the national stage against the Baltimore Ravens, and it appears the national NFL media is expecting Baltimore to win, but the Lions to cover in a close shootout.
I scanned a handful of national football sites for some picks and some thoughts. Take a look.
CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco: Ravens win, 37-30
“This will be fun as both teams can score. The Lions scored 52 last week, while the Ravens scored 41. I don’t think either will come close to those numbers,
but they will get into the 30s. Look for the Ravens at home to win a fun shootout.”
CBS Sports’ John Breech: Ravens 41-31
“I know they lost in Week 1, but the Ravens might be the scariest team in the NFL. They’ve played two games and they have hit the FORTY-POINT mark in both games. … If you can get pressure on Goff, you can slow down the Lions’ offense, but getting pressure on him could be difficult for a Ravens team that likely won’t have Kyle Van Noy. … Even if Goff goes off, I can’t pick against the Ravens. Not only do they have an angry Henry, but they’re also 18-2 straight up in their past 20 home prime-time games.”
Sporting News’ Bill Bender: Ravens 34-31
“Finally, a great Monday Night Football matchup. Baltimore beat Detroit 38-6 in their last meeting in 2023. We expect the offenses to put on a show, and the coaches will be on the spot for a few fourth-down decisions. The Lions are 4 of 5 on fourth down this season. Still taking the home team in a close one. The Ravens are 6-3-1 ATS as a home favorite since last season.”
Jordan Mendoza: Lions — “The Lions are just fine as they head into what could be a spectacular game on Monday night. Given Baltimore’s history in holding onto leads, this one goes to the final minute.”
Jon Hoefling: Ravens — “The best time for a letdown loss is right after a huge, emotional win. The Detroit Lions had a massive bounce-back effort in Week 2, but they’re riding a little too high while Derrick Henry is looking to avenge himself after his poor performance last week.”
Tyler Dragon: Ravens — “The Week 3 finale is the Game of the Week. Lamar Jackson puts on an MVP performance, and Derrick Henry bounces back after being contained last week.”
Christopher Bumbaca: Lions — “The Ravens’ prime-time record at home is ridiculous so they are definitely winning this game. But that number felt a little too big for the Lions.”
Blake Schuster: Ravens — “The Lions have to be feeling great after hanging 50 on their old offensive coordinator last week. They’ll come back down to Earth against a true Super Bowl contender on Monday Night Football.”
Lorenzo Reyes: Lions — “Baltimore tends to let teams back in games. The Lions are formidable and may even win outright. I think this is great value for a Detroit team that may have course corrected after a Week 1 dud.”
NFL.com editors Ali Bhanpuri, Tom Blair, Brooke Cersosimo, Gennaro Filice, and Dan Parr all chose the Ravens. Brooke said:
“There are matchups and storylines galore here. But I’ll keep it rather simple. Home-field advantage should play a major role. The Ravens have the highest win percentage (.763) in home prime-time games among all NFL franchises since 1970. Not to mention, their two-time league MVP is 7-2 with 22 pass TDs and zero(!) interceptions in Monday night games — that’s the most pass TDs without a pick by any player on a single day of the week all time. Shoutout to the NFL Research team. I can’t go against a stat like that.”
And onto the rest of your notes.
- FOX 2’s Dan Miller goes one-on-one with defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard ahead of Detroit’s big test tonight in Baltimore, discussing how his squad can stop a scary Ravens offense.
- A new episode of the “Twentyman in the Huddle” podcast is out, featuring Detroit Football Network’s Justin Rogers and Baltimore Ravens editorial director Ryan Mink.
- Check out this incredible corn maze shaped like Amon-Ra St. Brown’s headstand touchdown celebration.
- Why are Detroit Lions players also such good actors?
