Washington Redskins vs. Baltimore Ravens NFL Betting Odds & Spread

Written December 4, 2008 by Jason Lowry

After once being considered the best team in football earlier this season, the Washington Redskins are in desperate need of a win this weekend over the Baltimore Ravens to keep their playoff chances alive. Now the Ravens aren’t locked in on a playoff spot either, but they can afford a loss, where a Redskins loss pretty much puts them in need of a miracle of making the postseason. Last week the Redskins didn’t help their cause, as they got beat up by the Giants 23-7, while the Ravens did the beating, as they killed the Bengals 34-3. If you are looking to bet on the NFL this weekend, the oddsmakers have the Ravens 5 point favorites at home over the Redskins at BetUS.com

Now the Redskins are really hurting with a banged up Clinton Portis running the football, as the once MVP candidate really struggled to do much anything last week against the Giants, gaining just 22 yards on 11 carries. Now with Portis struggling a lot more pressure has fell on the shoulders of quarterback Jason Campbell, and he hasn’t been able to deliver the results fans are wanting. Against the Giants he had 232 yards passing, but had no touchdowns to one interception, and now has 4 interceptions in his last 4 games. Now its unclear if Portis will even be able to go this week, as he once again is watching practice from the sidelines, and going up against one of the best defenses in the Ravens really makes this a tough spot for this unit.

The Redskins defense did a pretty good job stopping the Giants strength of running the football, as the Redskins allowed just 107 yards to a running attack that has ran over teams all season long, but they didn’t have so much success stopping Eli Manning, as he threw for 305 yards and a touchdown. Now the Redskins did have 2 sacks and an interception, but this unit needed to respond better than it did when the offense was having its troubles. This week will be much of the same thing, cause if the Redskins fall behind early, they are really going to struggle coming back on a defense as good as the Ravens. Bet Redskins +5 at BetUS.com

Now the Ravens aren’t getting a lot of talk about them when it comes to who is playing the best football this season, but this team is playing about as good as anyone over the last 8 weeks, as they have only lost 1 game on the road to the Giants during that span. Last week they made easy work of the Bengals, as Joe Flacco threw for 280 yards and 2 scores, and the Ravens even got a touchdown pass from Mark Clayton who hooked up with Derrick Mason on a 32 yard Strike. Clayton also had 5 catchesfor 164 yards and a receiving touchdown. The Ravens running game wasn’t responsible for any points last week, but they got a solid performance out of Le’Ron McClain who had 86 yards on 25 carries. Look for the Ravens to just keep pounding away at the Redskins, but this one could wind up falling on the shoulders of Flacco, as the Redskins can be real tough against the run.

Now the Ravens have one heck of a defense behind them this season, and last week they were all over the Bengals, as they had 3 sacks and Jim Leonhard put the finishing touches on this game, as he took an interception 35 yards back for a score. Now the Bengals don’t have much of a threat on offense, and you have to think the Redskins are going to produce a much better challenge this week, but we have a hard time believing they are going to have enough success to pull of the win in this one. Bet Ravens -5 at BetUS.com