Ravens Favored Over Bears: Lamar Jackson’s Impact Analyzed

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00:00All right, Ravens, six and a half point favorites against the Bears.

00:03Why is this line important?

00:05Because it indicates that Lamar Jackson's going to play against the Bears.

00:09There's no question they would not be my closest seven point favorites.

00:12If not, total of 50 and a half.

00:14Today, we'll get more of an indication when they practice.

00:18The Bears have played better.

00:19Their opponents have not been great.

00:21I don't know how the Ravens' odds are still there to go very far in the NFL this season.

00:26Like, I just don't see it even with Lamar Jackson.

00:28But it seems like they're taking things pretty seriously now.

00:31They're taking some fun things out of their locker room to see if that changes the idea.

00:36No more ping pong, no more cornhole, basketball hoops, video games.

00:42I mean, look, I trust Harbaugh.

00:44He's won every single season.

00:45You could make the case, Mike, that this is probably the worst John Harbaugh season in Baltimore ever.

00:50Well, they had some tough years toward the end of Flacco's effectiveness.

00:55But this, with Lamar out, has been really a problem.

00:59And then, of course, they've had multiple injuries beyond his.

01:02I do think it's interesting.

01:04I wouldn't put money on the Ravens until I knew for certain that Lamar is going to be out there and will have a better idea today.

01:14Harbaugh was very dodgy about that question on Monday when Lamar did not practice at all.

01:19He didn't seem to want to talk about it now.

01:21Is that because he doesn't want to yield to the inevitability that he won't play or that he's trying to hide that he will?

01:28Hard to say.

01:30But I understand when I looked at their schedule why they still have pretty good odds to win the AFC North.

01:37It's a pretty weak schedule from here.

01:39Their schedule was very front-loaded.

01:42A lot of the more difficult games were placed into September, early October.

01:47And from here on out, yeah, they'll play the Bengals.

01:50They'll play the Steelers, the other contenders in the division.

01:53But other than that, they don't have a lot of difficult games against high-end NFL opposition.

02:00They'll play the Steelers, the other contenders in the division.