Preview and betting tips for Monday Night Football

The Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs are not only probably the two best teams in the NFL, they are also the two hottest. And so it is no coincidence that at BetOnline, they are the top two favorites to win the Super Bowl. And they will meet up in a fantastic matchup for the Monday Night Football betting crowd. Game time is 8:15 PM ET at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, with ESPN airing it.

Looking at the futures odds, Baltimore is currently listed at +450 to win the Super Bowl, while Kansas City is at +500. The situation regarding Sammy Watkins, the Chiefs' important possession receiver, is questionable; he was in the concussion protocol, but we are operating on the assumption that he is going to play.

Kansas City was one of the worst teams in the NFL last season when it came to creating zero and negative yardage plays in the run game. In fact, there were only two teams less proficient at doing it. They gave up close to five yards a carry, and their defense is characteristic of that same thing through the first two games, as they have allowed 4.6 ypc. Of course, two games is not an ideal sampling, but when the Chargers needed to run the ball in order to protect a rookie (Justin Herbert) who was making his first NFL start, they were able to do it, to the tune of 183 yards. And they had an eleven-minute edge in possession time.

In last season's meeting, the Ravens had 203 yards on the ground (an average of 6.3 a pop), so it is safe to say that they can win that battle at the line of scrimmage. And they don't even need for Jackson to run wild for that to happen.

As if it isn't enough of a problem with the Ravens being able to shuffle the likes of Gus Edwards, JK Dobbins and Mark Ingram in and out of the lineup, they also have the top ground-gainer among NFL quarterbacks. And this is where Lamar Jackson really hurts teams; he can get out there on designed runs.

What the Chiefs have to concentrate on doing is slowing down Jackson's short passes to the tight ends, particularly Mark Edwards (utilizing safety Tyrann Mathieu for that purpose), and keeping him contained in the pocket. And that is something easier said than done.

Here are the Monday Night Football betting odds, as they are posted by the folks at BetOnline:

Baltimore Ravens    -3 (-125)
Kansas City Chiefs +3 (+105)

Over 54.5 points -112
Under 54.5 points -108

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When you are the MVP of the league in your first full year as a starter there is something very special going on with regard to the people behind them with the "concept." Both of Monday night's quarterbacks fit that description, and while we know that Andy Reid is more or less the architect of the scheme Patrick Mahomes has been able to execute, what is not as well-publicized is the role Greg Roman has played in Baltimore's success.

Roman is the assistant coach who, on the fly, designed the San Francisco 49ers' offense around the talents of Colin Kaepernick when Alex Smith went down with an injury. And that got the team to the Super Bowl, as Kaepernick set the record for most rushing yards for a quarterback in a game (and in a playoff game, no less!).

So when Jackson assumed the starting role in Baltimore, Roman designed something for him too. The result has been a juggernaut; Jackson had over 1200 yards last season, a first for an NFL quarterback. In a sense, you can say that Roman was a revolutionary figure among some offensive coordinators, because he changed the perception of what could be done with an NFL offense.

Having said all that, and acknowledging the strengths of Baltimore and the weaknesses of Kansas City, the Ravens still lost a 33-28 decision in last year's meeting, because they couldn't slow down Mahomes too much; he had 374 yards through the air and the Chiefs also had 140 on the ground. This year it is safe to say that they are a little more dynamic in the running back corps with rookie Clyde Edwards-Helaire.

You could make the argument that the Baltimore defense is better now, though. They didn't have Marcus Peters (ex-KC CB) then, but they do now. They have also added Calais Campbell and Derek Wolfe to the defensive line, everybody seems to be raving about rookie MLB Patrick Queen, the first-rounder from LSU.

These things may contribute to giving Baltimore some little edges - maybe enough to make the difference. And remember something - although the Ravens have frozen in the playoffs the last couple of years, while KC has soared, this is a regular season game. And even acknowledging that the Chiefs have won eleven consecutive games, covering ten of them, the Ravens have won 14 straight in the regular season. So we like them a little, and at any rate we believe that the word "shutdown" isn't going to exist here, so OVER will also be a way to go.

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