Odds Lions Beat Ravens in Week 7

Predicting the odds the Lions have to beat the Ravens in Week 7.

The 2023 Detroit Lions have truly been road warriors.

So far, they've played and beaten Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium, Matt LaFleur and the Packers at Lambeau Field and Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium.

And now the Lions' latest travels will take them to Baltimore for a Week 7 tilt with Lamar Jackson and the Ravens. Baltimore presently sits atop the AFC North standings with a 4-2 record.

Jackson hasn't had a prolific season throwing the football, with just five passing touchdowns and three interceptions. However, he still has completed 69.9 of his passes, and has been a menace on the ground for defenses to deal with. The dual-threat passer has accumulated 327 yards and four touchdowns on 60 rushes, good for an impressive yards-per-carry average of 5.5 yards.

Detroit head coach Dan Campbell knows it won't be easy limiting the production of the one-time MVP quarterback on Sunday.

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"If I was dreaming about how to stop these guys, Lamar is the first one I'd see – if I was coming out of a nightmare," Campbell said of Jackson during his Wednesday media session. "He is dangerous.

"They don't ask him to do as much as he did before with his legs, but there's plenty of it still in there. And, he's throwing it pretty good. They've made a concerted effort to do a little bit more dropback with him, and he's throwing the ball well. And, he's got guys that are making plays for him. But, if it's not there, he'll still take off. He gets up the middle, gets the edge and he's going to hurt you, get a first down and there we go or an explosive. So, he's extremely dangerous as always. That's not changing right now."

On top of the challenge that Jackson poses for the Lions defensively, Detroit will also be tasked with moving the football against the fourth-ranked defense in the league on Sunday. The Ravens have allowed just 91 total points, or 15.2 points a game, through six weeks. They've also permitted no more than 24 points in a single game this season, and haven't allowed an opponent to score more than 17 points the last three weeks.

Additionally, Baltimore has especially been stout against the pass. It's limited opponents to the second-fewest passing yards (979) and the fewest passing touchdowns (four).

The Ravens have done this while constantly wreaking havoc against opposing passers. They're currently tied with the Buffalo Bills for a league-high 24 sacks. Additionally, John Harbaugh's defense possesses four players with three or more sacks: defensive tackle Justin Madubuike (4.5 sacks), linebacker Patrick Queen (3.5), EDGE Jadeveon Clowney (3.5) and safety Kyle Hamilton (3.0).

In this Week 7 matchup, Harbaugh & Co. will do battle with Lions signal-caller Jared Goff, a quarterback that the longtime Ravens head man was very complimentary of on Wednesday.

“They’re executing at a high level. That starts with the quarterback – Jared (Goff)’s doing a great job with it,” Harbaugh told reporters. “It’s a system that he’s basically grown up in. That system is a system he learned right from the first year when he started off with McVay – (Los Angeles Rams) coach Sean McVay.

"He just knows how to run those plays really well. I think (the) timing is really good. The receivers are on the same page – the (running) backs and everything. They’ve been in it for a few years now, and they’re just executing at a high level.”

It certainly is true that Goff and Ben Johnson's offense are executing at an extremely efficient clip right now. And, Aaron Glenn's defense isn't far behind Johnson's unit, having yet to allow an opponent to rush for 100 yards in a game this season.

Yet, at this present juncture, I can't give the Lions more than a 60 percent chance to beat the Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium Sunday.