Cardinals vs Ravens Odds, Week 8 Pick & Prediction

Cardinals vs. Ravens odds have Baltimore as a massive road favorite in Week 8.

This weekend features seven games with at least a touchdown spread, but none are bigger than this one. The Ravens have earned the respect as they're in hot pursuit of the AFC’s top seed, while the Cardinals begin thinking about their offseason moves. However, Baltimore can’t be too complacent or they will be the latest team to follow the trend of 9.5-point favorites losing.

Let's get down to business and make our Cardinals vs. Ravens pick, which is a creative way to back this big betting favorite.

Baltimore silenced all doubters as they took Detroit’s lunch money in a 38-6 blowout victory. It was clear from the first snap that the Ravens simply overmatched the NFC’s sleeper pick to reach the Super Bowl. 

The most inspiring part of the dominant victory was the passing game finally clicking. Baltimore committed to a spread attack this offseason by bringing in Todd Monken as OC and several new receivers. The result had been efficient with Lamar Jackson completing 70% of his passes in all but one game. But, it had not been explosive as Jackson had not thrown for more than 250 yards prior. 

The Ravens have an excellent opportunity to build on their success this week against Arizona. The Cardinals rank 30th in net yards per pass allowed. Baltimore ranks 13th in yards per drive ninth in points per drive. If this passing offense can recreate their success, those numbers may creep up to top-five territory. 

While the offense has been good, the defense has been the key to the Ravens success. Baltimore ranks first in points per drive allowed and third in yards per drive allowed. The only area they have struggled is against the run as they allow 4.2 yards per carry. But that is just because they are typically leading and not concerned with stopping the run. 

This defense has maintained championship-level play despite having key defenders go in and out of the lineup. Finding consistency in the passing game is the final piece this team needs.

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Turning to the Cardinals, it seems the clock struck midnight for Josh Dobbs. The peak was not too high but from Weeks 2-4, Dobbs had a passer rating of at least 99.9 in each game. Impressive given his competition was the 49ers, Cowboys, and Giants. Since then though, Dobbs has posted a passer rating south of 70.0.  This will likely be Dobbs's last week as the starter with reports of Kyler Murray being 100% but still marked as doubtful.

As for Arizona’s defense, the Cardinals snapped a streak of allowing at least 380 yards of offense last week. The bad news is, it took three turnovers to prevent that streak from becoming six games. Arizona ranks 30th in both yards and points per drive allowed. 

Baltimore has the second-best first-half average point differential (say that ten times fast) with a mark of 9.9. Even if we exclude the outlier of +28 against the Lions, that number is still about six points.

They have the opportunity to face the Cardinals who are trending down and beat up. If the Detroit game is any indication, the Ravens have officially hit their stride. What better team to continue building confidence in the passing game against than PFF’s lowest-graded coverage unit?

Josh Dobbs has exceeded expectations as a fill-in given that he wasn’t even on the roster for the preseason. However, all good things must come to an end, and facing a top-of-the-line defense is a rough way to go.

Trust Jackson to build on his big performance early and light up and beatable Cardinals defense. And trust Baltimore’s defense to continue smothering their opponents.

FanDuel has an excellent first half price at -5.5 with -105 odds. Get it before you need more than a touchdown to cover. Even though, I’m not worried if that becomes the case.