Los Angeles Chargers vs Baltimore Ravens Prediction, Pick and Preview, October 17 (10/17): NFL Week 6

Los Angeles Chargers vs Baltimore Ravens Prediction, Pick and Preview, October 17 (10/17): NFL Week 6

  • Ajay
  • Ajay
  • Oct 15, 2021, 11:06:39 PM

Credit: photo by Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

 
Odds
Time 1:00 p.m. EST
Chargers money line +126
Chargers spread +3
Ravens money line -128
Ravens spread -2.5
Over / under 51.5

 

2021 season stats
  Chargers Ravens
Record 4-1 4-1
Road / home record 2-0 2-0
Points per game 28.4 27.2
Points allowed per game 23.2 23.4
Pass yards per game 303 292
Rush yards per game 108 149
Total yards per game 424 453
Total yards allowed per game 372 390
Turnover ratio +2 -1

 

Preview

In arguably the most sumptuous matchup of the week, Justin Herbert Chargers head to M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore for a showdown with Lamar Jackson and the Ravens.  Both teams are 4-1, the only such matchup to happen in Week 6.  The Chargers are spotless winning both of their road games so far; wins against the Chiefs and Washington while the Ravens hold the same record at home.  Their home wins include victories over the Chiefs and the Colts.  Herbert and Jackson are 4th and 5th in passing yards this season and have been marshaling their offenses at an MVP level.  

The Chargers are coming off of a huge victory at home to the Browns thanks to a spectacular 26-point 4th quarter in which Herbert and Baker Mayfield went toe-to-toe.  The Ravens are also coming off of an impressive 4th quarter comeback victory at home to the Colts in Week 5.  They ended up winning that game in OT thanks to a Lamar Jackson TD pass to Marquise "Hollywood" Brown.

The Chargers and the Ravens each now stand as the leaders and only 4-1 team in the respective divisions.  The last time they met was in the Wild Card round of the 2018 season.  The Chargers took that game 23-17 in Baltimore. 

Offensive matchup

Justin Herbert was impressive once again and the faith that head coach Brandon Staley has in him continues to show for the team.  Herbert had a career-high 398 passing yards while throwing for 4 TDs for the third time since his 2020 debut.  This against one of the top defenses in the NFL.  Austin Ekeler was unstoppable.  The RB had 66 yards from 17 rushes and two TDs and a further 53 yards passing yards from 5 receptions and a receiving TD.  After a down week, Mike Williams was back to being a favorite target of Herbert hauling in 8 receptions for 165 yards and 2 scores.  Keenan Allen added 75 yards.  LA's offensive juggernaut looks healthy and ready to head to Baltimore.

While their defense was getting better, the Ravens offense took over the 4th quarter against the Colts.  Lamar Jackson, Mark Andrews and Hollywood Brown all had career-highs that night.  Jackson completed 37 of 43 attempts for 442 yards passing with 4 TDs and added 62 on the ground.  Mark Andrews had 147 yards off 11 receptions and two scores and Brown had two scores for his own going for 125 yards from 9 catches.  All 3 should be ready to go again this weekend.  Baltimore may have some issues on the offensive line though.  Ronnie Stanley and veteran player Alejandro Villanueva were both sidelined from Thursday's practice.

Defensive matchup

The Chargers' defense had been keeping opposing offenses modest throughout the first month.  Only the Chiefs had been able to score more than 20.  Week 5 told a different story.  The defense had trouble stopping the run.  Nick Chubb rushed 21 times for 149 yards and 1 TD and Kareem Hunt had 61 rushing yards and 2 TDs from 12 carries.  The defense was a bit better in the secondary, but two big plays of 71 yards from Njoku and 42 from Peoples-Jones will need to be improved on by the secondary.  Derwin James continues to lead the way for the defense with a team-high 42 tackles.  Nasir Adderley is next best with 35.  They led the team in tackles in Week 5 against the Browns; James with 9 and Adderley with 7.  Linebacker Drue Tranquill is questionable for the game with a chest injury sustained against Cleveland.

The Ravens defense held the Colts to a FG in both the 2nd and 4th quarters.  They did relatively well to stop the run.  Jonathan Taylor could only muster 53 yards from 15 rush attempts, Marlon Mack had 47 yards from 5 rushes although one of those was a long of 22.  Where the defense did show weakness was in the secondary.  Taylor had 116 yards receiving for 1 TD and Pittman had 89 yards also for a TD.  Parris Campbell, Mo Alie-Cox and Zach Pascal all made contributions by averaging 14, 17 and 16 yards respectively against the Ravens defense.  In all, five of Indy's offensive players averaged more than a down per reception.  Patrick Queen had 4 tackles for the defense - 2 assisted - in the game and leads the team with 33 in total.   Anthony Everett leads the team with 2 INTs.  

Prediction

It took career nights for 3 of Baltimore's offensive players to come back against the Colts, but that doesn't take away from what Lamar Jackson has been doing this season with his legs and as a pocket passer.  Justin Herbert had a career night himself, but he has had games close enough to his Week 5 total.  The defenses for both of these teams haven't been able to come up very big when playing high-powered offenses.  Even if this game starts off a bit slow, it's sure to have an explosive end and go down to the last play.  Herbert and Jackson are likely to have another shootout this week and they'll pass the over.

PICK: Over (51.5)

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