Sports betting handicappers have been barraged with plenty of bad news and vibes from the Baltimore Ravens in the past week that may make them jittery for Sunday. The Ravens are coming off a 15-10 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals last week as 2.5-point road favorites as they have not scored more than 10 points in either of their first two games after spending a ton of money in the offseason acquiring offensive talent to jumpstart their lethargic attack.
Off Field Issues
Off the field it has been just as bad for the Ravens as head coach John Harbaugh was fined $15,000 on Tuesday by the NFL for verbal abuse of an official that included physical contact. Harbaugh was disputing a questionable roughing the passer penalty at Cincinnati and bumped line Judge Ron Marinucci while stating his case.
Adding to the potentially bad sports betting online karma for Baltimore was the arrest of offensive line coach Andy Moeller for drunken driving charges early last Saturday. He recently beat the rap on DUI charges from another earlier incident with the law. He is the son of former Michigan coach Gary Moeller who was fired from his job their due to public intoxication. A true chip off the old block is Andy.
Offensive Offense
Baltimore has not impressed SBG global handicappers so far as they rank 25th overall for total offense in the NFL and rank an even worse 30th for points scored. Quarterback Joe Flacco continues to show regression in his third year on the job as he has a pathetic 41.2 QB rating after two weeks of play. Flacco has a 48% completion rate and an embarrassing 1/5 touchdown to interception ratio. With such newly acquired help as wideout Anquan Boldin, who arrived from Arizona to add a breakaway threat for Flacco, the results are alarming. Flacco struggled against an aggressive Cincinnati rush that is likely to be copied by other teams.
Harbaugh Confident
Despite the slow sports betting start Harbaugh continues to express support for his team and quarterback. He believes improvement is coming and it is fair to point out that Baltimore has played two of the toughest defensive teams in the league in the New York Jets and Bengals to begin the season.
Baltimore hosts winless Cleveland on Sunday.