The 1st question for building lineups tonight centers on 2 injuries.
Are Kareem Hunt and Marquise Brown ready to play? The answer for both is expected to be yes, but we’ll need to check the inactives to confirm before finalizing our lineups.
The next question: How should we expect this game to go?
With Lamar Jackson back from his Week 11 illness, Baltimore is a 3-point home favorite. That number has come down a half-point from where the Vegas line opened, perhaps in part because of Hunt’s anticipated return from IR.
Unfortunately, we don’t have any matchup from this season to help set our expectations. Last year’s 2 meetings found the Ravens loading up on points: 38 in their season-opening clash, then 47 in the Week 14 rematch.
Lamar Jackson notoriously took a break into the locker room in the midst of that meeting but returned to pilot the final 2 scoring drives. He racked up 124 rushing yards and 3 total TDs in that contest. He had thrown 3 TD passes in 3 straight meetings before that.
Cleveland hits this round with a pair of good defensive performances among its past 3 outings. But those games sandwiched the team’s worst defensive outing of the year -- by Football Outsiders’ DVOA -- in a loss to the Patriots.
Let’s check tonight’s values …