Lions-Ravens Opening Odds: Detroit A Touchdown-Plus Underdog For 3rd Straight Week

Now that the Detroit Lions have officially moved to 0-2, we can look ahead with clarity toward a Week 3 meeting against the Baltimore Ravens.

The Lions were listed late Tuesday as 9-point home underdogs for the 1 p.m. game, a line that was first released by Michigan sports betting operators while the Ravens battled the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday Night Football, a game Baltimore won 36-35. On Sunday, the Lions were just 7.5-point dogs. PointsBet Sportsbook had the Lions as 10-point dogs on Tuesday morning.

Current best odds on both sides of the spread, moneyline and point total are below.

Baltimore Ravens at Detroit Lions Odds: NFL Week 3

The Lions lost 35-17 on Monday Night Football against the Green Bay Packers. The Lions were heavy underdogs for that one, though it should be noted Detroit has had decent success against Aaron Rodgers when considering the spread throughout his career.

When sportsbooks started releasing lines for individual games during the summer, that line also was 7.5 points in favor of Baltimore. Meanwhile, the Lions were the league’s biggest underdogs in Week 1 and again were among the biggest in Week 2.

We’ll keep an eye on this line throughout the week at Playinmichigan.

Lamar Jackson causes headaches for opposing defenses

After playing Jimmy Garoppolo of the San Francisco 49ers in Week 1 and then Rodgers in the second game, the Lions will have to deal with a whole new challenge in Ravens star quarterback Lamar Jackson.

Jackson, the 2019 NFL MVP, is a dynamic athlete and also should be proficient through the air against the Lions’ secondary, which is already without second-year cornerback Jeff Okudah for the season.

Jackson has started regular-season games against 27 of the other 31 NFL teams with the entire NFC North as the only teams the former Heisman Trophy winner hasn’t matched up with. Sunday’s game at Detroit is the first of his NFC North meetings, which will also include games against Chicago, Green Bay and Minnesota.

The Ravens have one of the league’s best rosters, while the Lions are in the early stages of a rebuild under new general manager Brad Holmes. Hence, that lopsided number might just grow bigger throughout the week.