Week five of the NFL season will see the return of the Beltway Series. The Washington Redskins will travel to Baltimore, Maryland to take on the Ravens. The NFC East team from the Nation’s capital enter the game at 2-2 following their victory over the Cleveland Browns in week four. Meanwhile, the Ravens come in with a 3-1 record, suffering their first loss of the season, at home, against the Oakland Raiders last week.
The Redskins are on a two-game win streak following two losses to open the season. With a victory at home and on the road, one cannot say the team has a distinct edge at home and cannot play on the road. Their road victory came in the Meadowlands when they took down a divisional foe in the New York Giants. Both wins have come in games where the club has been able to put up some points, as they scored 29 and 31 in those two games. Their defense has had its share of issues tackling this season, and that could ultimately be their downfall.
The Ravens meanwhile, have been playing lower scoring games overall, relying on their defense. The offense is nothing special, and in the one game that became a high scoring affair, they lost by a point. Coming off a close loss, and the fact that they are at home gives me some faith in this one. The defense surely pays more attention to Jordan Reed than the Browns did a week ago, taking away the Redskins most lethal weapon. Look for this to be back to a typical Ravens football game, with the defense getting the majority of the attention.
Last week was the only time the Ravens game surpassed 45 points this season thus far. Given I expect their defense to ramp things up against Kirk Cousins this week, I am looking for a low scoring contest. Give me the Ravens and the under in this.
For all week five NFL Spreads and Over/Under’s, check out our NFL week 5 Betting Odds master-sheet here.
Line: Bal -3.5, O/U: 45
Pick: Ravens and the under
Result: Was 16 – Bal 10, Redskins and the under