Dear Vegas, NEVER underestimate the Baltimore Ravens ever again.

This past Monday, we saw the Baltimore Ravens go on the road against the Los Angeles Rams. The betting line in Vegas had the Ravens winning, but they only gave them -3.5, meaning they believe they could only win by a field goal, maybe more. In the atomic blowout, the Ravens won 45–6. They dominated so hard that they brought out the backup, Robert Griffin III, the former star QB previously of the Washington Redskins and the Cleveland Browns, to finish the game.

Now, I’m not a huge fan of the Baltimore Ravens, but I’ve been an avid supporter of them since they upset the New England Patriots twice in 2012 (the first time in a 31–30 win at home Week 3, and the other in a 28–13 win in Foxborough). And I’ve been watching them with interest as have the rest of America. So when Vegas only gave the 8–2 Ravens -3.5 to win against the 6–4 Rams (who have looked pretty bad this season), I was shocked and offended on behalf of the team.

Stats on Baltimore Ravens Going Into the Game

Going into the game, the Baltimore Ravens had the number one scoring offense, averaging 34.1 points a game. They also averaged about 428 total yards a game, which is second in the NFL, while being first in rushing yards per game with over 200 yards.

Lamar Jackson has 781 yards rushing on the year, and he’s so far ahead of the other QBs in that category that he’s almost doubled the 2nd place person, Kyler Murray, the rookie QB of the Arizona Cardinals (he has 418 yards rushing as of Week 11; they had a bye week this week). Lamar is also 7th in passing touchdowns and 1st in QB rushing touchdowns.

Thanks to Lamar’s contributions in the run game, they are also 1st in overall rushing. Lamar also leads the team in rushing yards and yards per attempt. Mark Ingram leads the team in rushing touchdowns and attempts. Did I mention the Ravens can run the ball?

But don’t let that stop you from thinking they can’t pass. Lamar Jackson was 9th in passing touchdowns, 12th in completion percentage, tied for first with Russell Wilson for percentage of touchdown passes thrown per attempt, and had a 106.3 QBR before the game against the Rams (the 6th best QBR in the NFL).

The Defense Have Played Great Too

The Ravens Defense have also held up their end of the field pretty well too. They have a number 7 rushing defense, only allowing 94.3 yards a game. They also only allow 19.6 points a game, making them 8th in that category. They are 11th in interceptions as well, with an interception seven games in a row (eight after tonight, the longest streak in the NFL).

Marcus Peters has been a great addition to the Ravens defense. Since being traded, ironically, by the LA Rams, Peters has gotten two interceptions and has solely given the team their two defensive touchdowns for the year. Marlon Humphrey leads the team in fumbles, and Matt Judon also leads the team in sacks with six sacks on the year.

The Rams Have Been Pretty Bad

The Los Angeles Rams have not played their best football this season. Although they were 10th in scoring offense and 7th in passing yards per game, Todd Gurley wasn’t the force he was the past year with only 4.1 yards per attempt on the season and 525 yards out of 129 attempts. Jared Goff wasn’t looking good either, with 11 touchdowns to 10 interceptions coming into the game against the Ravens.

The defense hasn’t looked all that great either. Their numbers are pretty good, and some of their numbers improved from last year. But they aren’t the elite star-studded defense they used to be. They are number eleven in defense and number four against the run, but they are number sixteen against the pass.

The main problem is that Aaron Donald hasn’t been a huge X factor for the Rams defense either, though he still has eight sacks. But that isn’t his fault. He’s seen the most double coverage out of any defensive lineman in the NFL, being double covered over 500 snaps. When teams take out your biggest star on the defense, you better hope to have someone else that can carry the load. Sadly, a lot of the defense that was there last year isn’t anymore.

Even with the addition of Jalen Ramsey after dumping both Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib, the Rams defense just isn’t as potent as they used to be. Aaron Donald led the league in sacks last year. Now he doesn’t sniff the top ten of any defensive category. They also haven’t forced a lot of turnovers either. Again though, they haven’t been the problem. It’s been the offense not doing their part.

How the Ravens Got Smoking Hot and Blew Out the Rams

With the 45–6 blowout, the people in Vegas must feel pretty stupid right now. But how did this happen?

First it was the magic of Lamar Jackson. He scored five passing touchdowns and rushed for over 90 yards, the second quarterback to do so (Cam Newton was the first QB to do this). He is the new Michael Vick. The rushing offense was once again potent despite the Rams having a top five rushing defense.

However, the pass eviscerated the Rams as well. Jackson was 15/20 for the night, giving him 75% accuracy and a 139.4 QBR rating. However, the scary part is that five of those fifteen passes were touchdowns, meaning that he scored one out of four times he threw the ball and one out of three completions were touchdowns.

The Ravens defense did their part as well. They pressured the quarterback, held the rushing attack to 22 total yards out of nine attempts, got three sacks, and got two interceptions. One of those interceptions was given by…you guessed it. Marcus Peters.

Jared Goff Did Not Have a Good Night

Goff made 26 completions out of 37 attempts, giving him just over 70% for a completions per attempt percentage. He wasn’t able to get any touchdowns. (This included having to settle for a field goal after making it to the six yard line.) What makes it worse for the man that received more than a $100 million in contract deals (albeit a chunk of it isn’t guaranteed) is that he got intercepted twice, making him get his lowest QBR of the season at 62.0.

Jared Goff now has 11 touchdowns to 12 interceptions in the season. That is not good, let alone elite. He is number six in most interceptions thrown and number nine in interception percentage out of all passing attempts at 2.7%. This game will also put him at the sixth lowest passer rating at 82.1.

Did the Rams ever have a chance?

I personally didn’t think so. Their offense under-performed with the amount of talent they have on that side of the ball, no matter which way you slice it. Even if you think Jared Goff isn’t an elite QB, they still have Todd Gurley and a crazy good wide receiver core with Robert Woods, Cooper Kupp, and Brandin Cooks. They just haven’t lived up to their potential, and the Super Bowl hangover seems to be really affecting them.

It’s not like their defense has gotten worse, either. Peters didn’t do a lot for them while he played for them, and they saved a lot of money dumping all those superstars, and their numbers have steadily improved or stayed the same. When you’re asked to be out a lot because your QB can’t make the big plays you need him to or gets picked twice or thrice in a game, you’re bound to fail even with Aaron Donald.

The Baltimore Ravens came in on a roll. They upset the Seattle Seahawks on the road, smoked the Texans, and scored 37 on a Patriots defense that’s only allowed an average of 10 points per game. Their only losses being to the Kansas City Chiefs and a mulligan against the Cleveland Browns (which seems like a lifetime ago), they were on pace to scald the Rams with that secret weapon in Lamar Jackson. Once again, the Ravens proves Vegas wrong and they win by almost 40 (and they gave them 3.5), and Lamar adds more to his case when it comes to the MVP conversation.

Vegas, don’t underestimate the Baltimore Ravens next week, even if they do play against the 49ers. Oh, and please people, make sure you don’t go for hot takes like this. They don’t age well.