Lamar Jackson essentially locked up the 2019 NFL MVP award with an awe-inspiring performance against the Jets Thursday night. Baltimore crushed Gang Green 42-21 as Jackson threw for a career high five touchdowns in the victory. Jackson was electric throughout the evening, setting the single season rushing record for quarterbacks early in the first half, and his play has made the Ravens the team to beat in the eyes of the oddsmakers. Baltimore is now down to +200 to win the Super Bowl.
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Ravens become an even bigger Super Bowl favorite
The Ravens were +225 to win the Super Bowl prior to last night’s game, but their dominance impressed everyone, including oddsmakers. Baltimore has now won 10 straight games after a 2-2 start, and the Ravens can lock up home field advantage throughout the playoffs with a victory in one of their last two games. They will have an additional three days of rest before taking on the struggling Browns in Week 16, and Baltimore will close out its season against archrival Pittsburgh.
Baltimore will be a heavy favorite, per the NFL betting odds, in both those games. The Ravens weren’t too impressive against those division rivals earlier this year though, losing 40-25 at home to the Browns and needing to survive overtime to beat the Steelers.
Provided they don’t collapse and lose their last two regular season games, Baltimore is in great position in the AFC. The conference has only three real contenders, and the Ravens would likely avoid either New England or Kansas City in the Divisional Round of the AFC Playoffs. The Patriots and Chiefs are heavy favorites to finish as the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds, while the No. 4 seed is slated to either be Houston or Tennessee.
RUSH TO JUDGMENT
Lamar Jackson passed Michael Vick as a QB long before rushing record
Neither the Texans or Titans are seen as much of a threat though, and the Ravens would be favored by more than a touchdown if they were to meet in January. While New England’s Super Bowl odds are +450 and Kansas City’s Super Bowl odds are +700, Tennessee and Houston both have Super Bowl odds of +4000.
As long as their stars stay healthy, Baltimore would likely be favored over the NFC champion if the Ravens made it to the Super Bowl too. The Ravens recently beat the favorites to win the NFC in San Francisco, and the 49ers are one of two teams in the conference with odds of less than 10-1 to win the Super Bowl.
Odds on NFC teams to win the Super Bowl are longer considering the overall strength of the conference. A potential 10-win team in Minnesota or Los Angeles could be left out of the playoffs, and every potential playoff team is seen as a Super Bowl contender.
Lamar Jackson’s MVP odds
Prior to Thursday night’s game, Jackson was the overwhelming favorite to win the NFL MVP. At the end of October, Jackson’s MVP odds were about the same as Russell Wilson, but Jackson separated himself from the pack with a win over New England and continued his incredible play throughout November.
On Thursday morning, Jackson’s NFL MVP odds were -1000, but they are off the board after thrashing the Jets last night. Online sportsbooks might not open the market back up again since Jackson is such a presumptive favorite, and he would likely be at least -2500 to win the award if betting on this prop did open one more time.
Jackson’s 33 passing touchdowns are seven more than any other quarterback in the league, and his 1,100 rushing yards are more than twice as many as Kyler Murray and Josh Allen.