Thanksgiving NFL Schedule: Why Ravens Will Ruin the 49ers' Holiday

The 7-3 Baltimore Ravens play to the level of their competition, which means they are going to play brilliantly against the San Francisco 49ers and will cover the 3.5 spread.

The 49ers are forced to make the three time-zone flight trek to Baltimore, with essentially two days to prepare for a Ravens team that will likely feature the return of LB Ray Lewis, although his status is still listed as questionable. 

QB Joe Flacco is impossible to predict at this point. He has shown the ability to tear up a defense like the Steelers, only to be stymied by the Seahawks. As long as he takes care of the ball against a 49ers defense that leads the NFL with a plus-17 turnover margin, he can take advantage of the speed mismatch of Torrey Smith will then open up the middle of the field for Anquan Boldin.

The key for the Ravens offense is Ray Rice. If he is able to get four yards per carry, it will keep the offense balanced and will allow Flacco to take shots down the field.

Few QBs in the league have the arm strength of Joe Cool.

It won’t be easy, though, considering that the 49ers haven’t allowed a 100-yard rusher in the last 32 games.

Meanwhile, the Ravens defense will be forcing a bevy of three-and-outs once they shutdown Frank Gore and Kendall Hunter in the running game. Alex Smith may be playing one heck of a game manager, but there is no way he can move the chains with any sort of consistency when the running game is working.

Expect the exotic blitz schemes to force some very bad decisions out of Smith. One of the key points to remember is the lack of strong defenses the 49ers have faced. They only scored 13 points against the Bengals' sixth-ranked defense back in September, the best unit they have faced this season.

The 49ers are 4-0 on the road, with all of the trips being on the East Coast, but there is too much leaning in the Ravens' direction to pick against them. The Niners are going to have to wait another week to clinch the NFC West.

Prediction: Ravens 23, 49ers 13

(Spread courtesy of Covers.com)