Monday Night Football thread: We always root for the AFC against the NFC

The Baltimore Ravens are on the road to take on the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football to conclude Week 9. Lamar Jackson’s numbers on the road against the spread are impressive, as he’s hovering around 64 percent.

Unfortunately for Baltimore and Lamar, he’ll be without his star tight end Mark Andrews as well as his number one receiver in Rashod Bateman. Rookie tight end Isaiah Likely has played well, and Devin Duvernay makes for a good gadget player, but the Ravens lack firepower. Forgive me for thinking Desean Jackson isn’t the answer.

The Ravens do have good news on the other side of the ball as rookie edge rusher David Ojabo will play, as will newly acquired linebacker Roquan Smith. Baltimore has struggled to defend running backs all season. Smith will help two positions as the Ravens can have Patrick Queen concentrate on the run and blitzing.

Andy Dalton has supplanted Jameis Winston as the starting quarterback. He won’t have Jarvis Landry to throw to, which means we’ll see a heavy dosage of Alvin Kamara.

New Orleans was my dark horse team to make the Super Bowl, but injuries and inconsistent play have done them in. Fortunately for the Saints, Baltimore will be equally shorthanded. I think this will be a lower-scoring game with plenty of mistakes.

The Ravens are 2-point favorites, with the total set at 46.5 on DraftKings Sportsbook. I say 21-20, Ravens.