Baltimore Ravens vs. St. Louis Rams: Spread and Predictions

After a surprising Week 2 loss, the 1-1 Baltimore Ravens will travel to take on the 0-2 St. Louis Rams at the Edward Jones Dome on Sunday afternoon. After dismantling the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 1, the Ravens were ambushed last week by the Tennessee Titans in a 26-13 loss.

The Rams were favored to win the NFC West entering the season, but have had to deal with an absolutely brutal early-season schedule to this point. St. Louis was outclassed by an explosive Philadelphia Eagles team last week and beaten by two scores on Monday night against the New York Giants.

The Ravens looked to be the class of the AFC after their thrashing of the Steelers to open the season, but they suffered a big let down in Week 2. The Raven defense was exposed by Matt Hasselbeck, Kenny Britt and the Titan passing attack last week.

St. Louis is banged up with running back Steven Jackson questionable and wide receiver Danny Amendola out, but they'll need to persevere in order to stay in their divisional race. The Ravens will be eager to prove that last week was nothing more than a hiccup, so this should be a hotly-contest matchup.

Watch: Sunday, Sept. 25 at 4:05 p.m. EDT (CBS) 

Spread: Baltimore Ravens (-4)

Over/Under: 42

Prediction

Both the Ravens and Rams will be desperate to win this game for varying reasons. The Ravens need to re-establish their dominance after last week's loss to the Titans while the Rams just need to put one in the left column in general.

The Ravens have a multi-dimensional offense that should keep the St. Louis defense off balance. The Rams were killed by LeSean McCoy and the Philadelphia running game in Week 1, while it was Eli Manning and the Giants' aerial attack that sunk them in Week 2.

Baltimore is perfectly capable of controlling the ball by running it with Ray Rice or airing it out with quarterback Joe Flacco. Defensively, the Ravens have some holes in their secondary which should play into the Rams' hands.

The Raven defense has shut down two quality running backs this year in Rashard Mendenhall and Chris Johnson, so even if Steven Jackson plays he may not be too effective. The Rams are primarily a passing team anyway, though with offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels installing a spread offense.

Overall, the Ravens seem to be the team with far fewer holes, so they have the advantage in this one. Even so, the Rams may feel like their backs are against the wall and could pull out a virtuoso performance, but in the end, the cream will rise to the top.

Ravens win, 31-24