Predictions heavily favor Ravens over Cardinals in Week 2
Sep 14, 2019, 8:00 AM
The odds are not in the Arizona Cardinals’ favor as they hit the road this weekend.
Across the board, the experts are overwhelmingly in favor of the Baltimore Ravens completing a thumping for the second straight week after their 59-10 win over the Miami Dolphins in Week 1.
For the Cardinals, last week’s rough first three quarters and a resulting tie have put them in a shadow of doubt for writers around the country.
From the experts at ESPN and USA Today, their staffs each unanimously picked the Ravens to win.
Around other outlets, they clued in a little more detail as to why the Ravens are favored by almost two touchdowns.
Bleacher Report
Arizona has the unfortunate task of trying to stop Jackson and Co. in Baltimore’s home opener Sunday. Kliff Kingsbury’s side made a valiant effort against Detroit and forced a tie, but it still conceded 361 of its 477 yards through the air. Now, the Cardinals must go on a road trip to the eastern seaboard to take on a defense that forced a trio of turnovers in its opener. While Arizona’s home comeback was nice, it still has plenty to work on to be able to contend with teams such as Baltimore.
Bleacher Report also pointed to Baltimore’s 2018 season where they won three home games by double digits, including last September’s 47-3 rout of the Buffalo Bills.
CBS Sports
The CBS sports writers unanimously chose Baltimore as well. NFL writer Cody Benjamin offered the score of 30-17 with the Ravens on top.
Kyler Murray will keep Arizona energized, but there’s no way the Lamar Jackson Show will hit a major speed bump at home against this defense after Week 1’s explosion.
Additionally, John Breech is dubbing the Cardinals-Ravens game as his lock of the week:
Not only do I think the Ravens are going to win, but they might win by 50. If you thought the Ravens-Dolphins game was a mismatch, just wait until you see what Baltimore does against the Cardinals.
NFL.com
NFL.com writer Gregg Rosenthal said this game should be a cakewalk for the Ravens following last week’s rout of the Dolphins.
Whether Kyler Murray and Kliff Kingsbury’s frenetic fourth quarter against Detroit was a fluke or a sign of things to come, the Cardinals’ defense doesn’t have the birds to slow down the Ravens’ depth of flock.
Sporting News
Sporting News credited the fact that the Ravens had a blowout win and they also noted that Murray didn’t get hot until late in the game last week.
Because Arizona was so bad early and so good late last week, we don’t know who the real Cardinals are yet. And because Baltimore was playing Miami, we don’t know who the real Ravens are yet, either. What we do know is Baltimore has a more trustworthy coaching staff and defense. We believe Lamar Jackson’s performance against the Dolphins was not a fluke, and we’re not yet sold on the Cardinals on either side of the ball. That’s enough to go with the heavy favorites.
Baltimore Sun
Staff writers overwhelmingly chose the hometown team to put up over 30 points and for the Cardinals to finish under 20. Editor C.J. Doon noted that Murray and Kingsbury are in for a real test:
ArrayQuarterback Kyler Murray and coach Kliff Kingsbury might have shaken out their first-game jitters against the Lions, but they’re in for a tough test against a Ravens defense that feasts on young quarterbacks at home. With Patrick Peterson suspended, Arizona’s secondary is among the worst in the NFL, so look for Lamar Jackson to continue to show off his improved passing skills with another big game through the air.
