Baltimore Ravens at San Diego Chargers Spread

The Baltimore Ravens (10-3) will be going after a fifth straight victory when they visit the San Diego Chargers (6-7) Sunday night.

The Ravens are currently a 2.5-point favorite with the total set at 44.5.

Baltimore made easy work of the Indianapolis Colts at home last Sunday. It jumped out to a 17-0 lead and coasted to a 24-10 victory.

Joe Flacco connected on 23 of 31 pass attempts for 227 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Five completions went to Anquan Boldin, who led the team with 57 receiving yards.

Torrey Smith and Dennis Pitta hauled in Flacco’s two touchdown tosses.

Ray Rice led the way on the ground with 103 yards and a score on 26 carries.

The Chargers have responded with back-to-back impressive wins since losing six in a row from Oct. 23-Nov. 27. They hammered the Buffalo Bills 37-10 at home last week.

Philip Rivers completed 24 of 33 passes for 240 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. Two of his touchdown strikes went to Antonio Gates, who led the team with seven catches and 68 receiving yards.

Ryan Mathews led the ground attack with 114 of the team’s 150 rushing yards.

San Diego’s offense has looked like a well-oiled machine the last two weeks, racking up 799 yards of offense and scoring 75 points. That, however, could change in a hurry with Baltimore coming to town.

The Ravens rank third in the NFL in both total and scoring defense with 278.1 yards and 15.5 points allowed per game.

Baltimore’s stop unit has performed well despite being without defensive leader Ray Lewis the last four games. Lewis, who has been suffering from a toe injury, could give his team a boost if he is able to return Sunday night. He is currently listed as probable.

The Ravens could use Lewis with the way the Chargers are moving the ball right now.

Rivers has been a big reason why the Bolts have ripped off consecutive blowout wins. He’s completed 46 of 61 passes (75.4 percent) for 534 yards with six touchdowns and no picks the last two weeks.

The Ravens have won four of the last five in this series with the most recent being a 31-26 win in San Diego on Sept. 20, 2009.

While the Ravens have had the upper hand recently, the Chargers likely can’t be counted out. After all, they are 9-3-2 against the spread in their last 14 games as an underdog of three points or less.

As far as the total is concerned, the under has been the play. These two have come in under the total in five of the last seven matchups.

Jimmy Boyd will keep you winning consistently on the pro gridiron clear through the Super Bowl with his expert picks. He has produced five straight profitable weeks in the NFL, and the money train keeps right on rolling in Week 15. His NBC Sunday Night Football picks are a red hot 6-1 (86%) the last seven weeks.  Don’t make a move on the Sunday night game before you check out who Jimmy is playing first.