The full 2021 NFL schedule is set to be released on Wednesday night, but the league announced their Week 1 matchups on Wednesday morning. The Baltimore Ravens won’t need any time to wait for the spotlight, as they’re slated to play under the bright lights during the first week of the season.
Baltimore will travel to the west coast to take on the Las Vegas Raiders in the first “Monday Night Football” matchup of the 2021 regular season. It means that the Ravens will start their season on the road, but that didn’t seem to impact if Baltimore would be favored in the game or not. The Ravens opened as 5.5-point favorites against Las Vegas, according to Caesars Sportsbook by William Hill.
Ravens are 5.5-point favorites for their season-opening game at Raiders, per Caesars Sportsbook by William Hill.
Lamar Jackson is 21-3 outright (.875) as a starting QB in the regular season when favored by at least 5.5 points.
— Jamison Hensley (@jamisonhensley) May 12, 2021
As Jamison Hensley of ESPN notes, quarterback Lamar Jackson has performed rather well when favored by at least 5.5 points, accumulating a dazzling 21-3 record. He’ll look to stack more wins onto that total by continuing Baltimore’s recent tradition of blowing out teams on the opening weekend of the season. Over the last four years, the Ravens have outscored their opponents 164-19 in Week 1 games.
It seems likely that Baltimore will be featured in plenty of primetime game throughout the course of the 2021 regular season. However, they’ll have to show the world that they still belong in the spotlight by performing well, and that all begins in Week 1 this year as they look to start the campaign strong against the Raiders.