Matt Josephs

Baltimore is coming off a physical win over the Steelers last week and have a road trip to Seattle up next so maybe focus is an issue. The Ravens offense has scored 23 or more in every game and has been able to get Lamar Jackson going. The issue with the home team is their defense which has allowed 33, 40 and 23 the last three weeks. Baltimore's secondary is a banged up bunch and I think there's a chance that Cincy can take advantage of it. The Bengals are 0-5 this season, but have shown some pulses of offense from time to time. They scored 20 in Seattle and 23 last week against Arizona. Andy Dalton lost John Ross and AJ Green so that's a concern, but Auden Tate is a decent option. Cincy's defense is horrendous for the most part. They've given up over 170 rushing yards from three teams. The over has been a good play in Baltimore games. I think this one could see a bunch of points.

Go figure Tennessee as they enter this one 2-3 on the season. The offense has scored 43 and 24 in their two wins over the Browns and Falcons on the road, but have scored 17, 7 and 7 in their three losses. If you bottle up Derrick Henry, then Marcus Mariota struggles with his lack of weapons. This defense has been fantastic against the rush and has had some success against the pass as well. Denver is feeling good after their first win of the season. They should probably have two more wins after they got hosed against the Bears in week two on an awful roughing penalty. They also coughed up a lead against Jacksonville late. Lindsey and Freeman are a solid duo in the backfield and Joe Flacco has been efficient when called upon. Denver's secondary is lockdown and they've played the run pretty well as of late. I'll back the home team's moneyline in this one BUT I've also been awful in Tennessee games. I just can't figure them out. 

The Steelers are on their third quarterback of the season with Devlin Hodges under center for this one. Pittsburgh's offense has not gotten much on the ground from James Conner which has put more pressure on the passing game. Pittsburgh's defense has been good the last few weeks against the Bengals and Ravens. They put constant pressure on the QB and have an improved secondary with Minkah Fitzpatrick. The Chargers are 2-3 and are coming off a 20-13 loss to the Broncos in which they got nothing from the ground. This team's devoid of true offensive weapons it seems outside of Ekeler and Allen at wide receiver. We'll see if Melvin Gordon is less rusty this week because that would help. San Diego's defense has given up 20 points or less in three of their five games. Pittsburgh has gone under in 14 of their last 17 road games. LA has gone under in 25 of their last 39 including 12 of their last 18 at home. I think this one is a tightly played game. 

I wrote a really long preview on this game for Athlon Sports. The long and short of it is that I just don't love the Niners on a short week against a team that will take the run away from them. San Fran doesn't want to get into a shootout and I just don't know how well they'll run it without their two starting tackles AND their fullback. Todd Gurley being out is a concern, but this team is used to playing without him. Malcolm Brown and Darrell Henderson are not bad backups if Gurley is limited. The Rams have had 10 days to stew after their loss to the Seahawks in which they should have won due to a missed field goal. I think LA shows everyone how good they are in this game and gives the Niners their first loss of the season.