The Baltimore Ravens are the favorites to win Thursday night’s “blackout game” against the Cincinnati Bengals, according to a panel of experts from WJZ.
Alex Glaze, a WJZ reporter, believes that the Ravens will have more success on offense against a weaker Bengals defense than they did on Sunday against the Browns. Glaze predicts that the Ravens will bounce back from their loss to the Browns and beat the Bengals 31-21.
Steve Huber, host of Huber in the Morning on 100.7 The Bay, is less optimistic about the Ravens’ chances of winning. He compares beating the Bengals to muscling down a plate of skyline spaghetti, which he says makes no sense and is much like naming a team from Midwest America after an Indian jungle cat. Despite his concerns about some Ravens players who did not attend practice this week, Huber believes that the team will still shine during prime time and beat the Bengals 27-24.
Rick Ritter, an anchor at WJZ, is looking forward to seeing Ravens rookie Keaton Mitchell play tonight. Although he acknowledges that it may be a close game down to the last couple of seconds, Ritter predicts that the Ravens will win 24-23.
Former wide receiver Qadry Ismail sees Thursday’s game as a “must win” for the Ravens if they want to be leaders in their division. While he agrees that it will be a close score, Ismail predicts that the Ravens will score more points and win 31-28.
Mark Viviano, sports director at WJZ, also expects the Ravens to win Thursday night’s game by a score of 27-23. He notes that John Harbaugh’s teams have never lost a Thursday night home game and that this trend benefits them as they play on short rest during prime time.