NFL Football
2009-12-07 - Baltimore Ravens at Green Bay Packers
A Sports Betting Pick by BetOnline
NFL Betting :
Weakening Ravens Defense To Help Packers On Monday Night
Baltimore Ravens @ Green Bay Packers
Football : United States : NFL
Monday 7th December 2009 - Kickoff 8:05pm ET
The main focus for the online sportsbook scene on Monday will be the Monday Nighter between the Baltimore Ravens and Green Bay Packers.
When you look at the Baltimore Ravens defensive stats, you wouldn’t notice that their defense has softened up at all since last year. Let’s face it: over the last decade, the Ravens have been one of the most suffocating defenses in the league. This year, they rank fourth in scoring defense, so nothing is wrong, right?
The truth is that the Ravens defense has not been the same since defensive coordinator Rex Ryan left a season ago and that is one of the big reasons why the team is just 6-5 on the year.
One of the biggest reasons why the Ravens have struggled this year has been the lack of quarterback pressure. They only have 21 sacks this year, which ranks 26th in the NFL.
While some of the other stats look good, there is no skirting the fact that Baltimore have given up 24 points to Kansas City, 33 to Minnesota, 26 to San Diego and even 17 to the Dennis Dixon-led Pittsburgh Steelers.
This week, the Ravens will give up points and unless they can win a shootout, they won’t win at Lambeau Field.
The Green Bay Packers should have a big advantage with their receivers going up against the Ravens secondary, which should really be the story of this game.
The Packers have the second-most amount of passing plays of 40 yards or longer, which should be a chief concern for the Ravens this week. They’ll send their exotic blitzes to try to get to quarterback Aaron Rodgers, but he has dealt with that type of pressure all year long.
The Ravens don’t have the same cornerbacks that they used to as Dominque Foxworth and Chris Carr are not Chris McAlister or Samari Rolle. This is a real weakness in the Ravens defense that can be exploited and the Packers have the offense to do it.
The Packers have also had 10 days to prepare for this contest after playing on Thursday last week. That means they’ll be a little fresher in this contest as well.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Packers 24, Ravens 17
BEST BETTING TIP :
Take GREEN BAY PACKERS to win and cover the -3.5 pt handicap.
