Ravens

Saints

For Week 9, we get a cross-conference matchup between two of the most successful teams over the last decade or so. It’s Baltimore Ravens vs New Orleans Saints, AFC North vs NFC South, 2012 Super Bowl Champion vs 2009 Super Bowl Champion. Which heavyweight will come out on top this week? Will there be an NFL injury report entry for this matchup?

The Ravens make the long journey to the Louisiana Bayou and to the Superbowl stadium, the scene of their Super Bowl 47 triumph. Lamar Jackson, the 2019 unanimous MVP, will no doubt be the center of all that they do offensively. Whether using his legs or his underrated arm, Jackson will be targeting more NFL records, and more NFL wins in 2022.

The Saints have gone through a harrowing journey in recent years, having lost crowd hero Drew Brees to retirement a year ago, and then, as if that was not enough, they had head coach Sean Payton walk away in the off-season. The question will be if they can start a new era under the stewardship of Dennis Allen. Would-be starting quarterback Jameis Winston is reportedly looking good in his recovery from a torn ACL, and the defense looks fearsome with the addition of the Honey Badger himself, Tyrann Mathieu. The arrow appears to be pointing up for the gold and black.

These two teams rarely meet, with only 7 regular season games between them going back to 1996. The Ravens have the edge 5-2, but the last time they squared off in 2018, the Saints took home the W by a single point. Will 2022 produce another nail-biter on the NFL odds?

The sensible money would be on a defensive and low-scoring game, so those looking to bet on NFL games this week would do well to place their hopes on either side to win by a small margin. Because that’s the way some NFL matchups roll.