Baltimore Ravens vs Minnesota Vikings NFL Week 9 Picks

Baltimore Ravens vs Minnesota Vikings Betting Preview

WagerTalk NFL handicapper Tony Mejia offers his Baltimore Ravens vs Minnesota Vikings NFL Week 9 betting preview. At the time of posting, the Ravens are a 6-point home favorite over the Vikings, with the total sitting at 49.5 points.

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Baltimore Ravens vs Minnesota Vikings Predictions

Baltimore Ravens -6 vs Minnesota Vikings
Total: 49.5 Points
Minnesota’s last five games have all gone over the total.
The over is 7-2 in the Ravens’ last nine home games.

Mike Zimmer led the Vikings to the NFC Championship Game in 2017 following a 13-3 regular season. Remember? Minnesota fans are starting to forget as that memory fades and frustrations mount.

The Vikes enter Week 9 under .500 again and would miss the playoffs for the third time in four seasons if the postseason picture was decided today. Fortunately for Zimmer, he’ll have opportunities to get things fixed. This week’s chance to right the ship would significantly cool Zimmer’s hot seat, but if his team couldn’t defeat a Cowboys team led by backup Cooper Rush, how are they going to overcome one led by Ravens star Lamar Jackson.

News that Dak Prescott would sit out last Sunday night’s showdown in Minneapolis ramped up the pressure on the Vikings to take care of business as a home favorite. Instead, they failed to do so in losing to Rush, failing to reach the end zone after doing so on the game’s opening drive in a 20-16 defeat. WR Justin Jefferson got banged up and ended up with just two catches against the defense of standout Dallas rookie Trevon Diggs but apparently avoided major injury even though it has yet to be determined if he’ll be out there for this visit to Baltimore.

Kirk Cousins was unable to generate much offense downfield and was outplayed by a career backup starting his first game, so that wasn’t a good look either. The Vikings went 1-for-13 on third down against Dallas, their worst performance ever with Cousins at QB and the ugliest showing of any team in the NFL this season. Although Cousins threw seven TD passes over his first three games, he’s thrown six over his last four, leading to constant reminders that he’s not living up to his immense $66 million contract extension signed in 2020. Minnesota’s quarterback threw for a season-low 184 passing yards against the Cowboys and missed throws repeatedly.

Squaring off against an MVP candidate coming off a bye after a performance like that certainly isn’t ideal, and there’s line value at home in laying six points even though the line has already moved from 5.5 where it opened. Lamar Jackson also got extra practice time in with rookie Rashod Bateman, who should be an x-factor down the stretch after missing the first few months of his career due to injury.

The Ravens had a much-needed bye week to get healthy and even got the results they wanted in Week 8 as Pittsburgh upset Cleveland to leave both at 4-4 and Cincinnati managed to blow a double-digit lead at the Jets against a quarterback seeing his first pro action, which knocks it out of the top spot in the AFC North.

Given how Baltimore’s season started, losing multiple running backs in training camp, not to mention CB Marcus Peters, to ACL injuries, it has to consider itself quite fortunate coming out of the bye. Sammy Watkins’ acquisition didn’t pay many dividends before he was hurt with a hamstring strain, but he’ll be back in the mix sooner than later. With Bateman having returned and Marquise “Hollywood” Brown having made strides upon staying healthy, Jackson has more quality targets at receiver than ever to complement tight end Mark Andrews.

Jackson has gotten nice contributions from the running game from a number of guys, with Latavius Murray stepping up immensely to keep defenses from keying on him, so the Ravens have an opportunity to be dynamic the rest of the way.

Although they fell 41-17 against Cincinnati 41-17 in Week 7 to suffer a second loss, the Ravens had scored over 30 points in three of their five prior games, doing all that damage at home against the Chiefs, Colts and Chargers, all AFC playoff contenders. Minnesota’s defense will have its hands full and likely won’t have top DE Danielle Hunter due to a pectoral injury suffered on Sunday. Top corner Patrick Peterson (hamstring) is also likely to miss this matchup. The ‘under’ has prevailed in four of Minnesota’s last five games, so they can’t be counted on to do their part in delivering the high side here but it’s worth looking at the ‘over’ on the Ravens team total (27.5) with a near-60 degree day and clear conditions expected at M&T Bank Stadium, where the home team is already 3-1 straight up (2-2 ATS).

Look for the good times to continue in Baltimore since Jackson’s speed and elusiveness should mitigate Minnesota’s biggest edge on defense, its pass rush. Losing Hunter is a killer too. Lay the points with the Ravens.

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Baltimore Ravens vs Minnesota Vikings Analysis from The GoldSheet

Not only are the Ravens coming off a rested bye week, Lamar Jackson also got extra practice time in with rookie Rashod Bateman, who should be an x-factor down the stretch after missing the first few months of his career due to injury. Baltimore’s outlook in the AFC is bright with the Chargers, Browns and Bengals each losing last week, the Chiefs continuing to struggle and the Titans losing Derrick Henry. Look for the optimism in Baltimore to continue this week as Jackson’s speed and elusiveness should mitigate Minnesota’s biggest edge on defense, its pass rush.

Baltimore Ravens vs Minnesota Vikings Video Preview

The Ravens haven’t left home in five weeks. Can Lamar Jackson and Co. send the Baltimore fans home happy with a win over Minnesota before (finally) hitting the road next week? WagerTalk NFL handicappers Drew Martin, Andy Lang and Andrew McInnis weigh in with their Baltimore Ravens vs Minnesota Vikings predictions.

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