Ehhhhhhhhhh papiiiiiii it’s South Beach time, as the 6-2 Baltimore Ravens take on the 2-7 Miami Dolphins in Hard Rock Stadium, for week ten’s Thursday Night Football match-up. The Ravens are coming off a victorious OT thriller against the Vikings on Sunday night, while the Dolphins are coming off winning the Bin Bowl Fiesta against the Houston Texans, where three points were scored in the second half. Dolphins, you’re doing great sweetie.

Lamar and the Ravens are coming away from the Vikings game with a sense of confidence, but also relief. They overcame a 14-point deficit, twice and should feel extremely lucky, but also proud of their defence, that Anthony Barr’s INT of Jackson in overtime didn’t come back to bite them. Although the Ravens started slow, scoring their first TD in the second quarter and most points in the fourth, they ended up putting up 500 total yards, along with 36 first downs (Vikings finished with 10). In the end, Lamar had more passing yards than Kirk Cousins (286/187) and rushing yards than Dalvin Cook (120/110). The entire Raven’s offence looked hot, with Hollywood Brown logging 116 yards receiving from five receptions, and Rashod Bateman and Mark Andrews both hauling in five catches for 52 and 44 yards respectively. Devonta Freeman and Le’Veon Bell even got on the scoreboard with a touchdown each.

The Dolphins and Texans game on Sunday night could go down as the worst of the year. Two TDs all game and only three points in the second half, doesn’t exactly scream, thriller. To make matters worse, Myles Gaskin only logged 34 yards rushing against the second worse run defence in the league. The only bright(ish) sparks for Miami were Mike Gesicki and Jaylen Waddle, who had 54 and 83 yards receiving respectively. Waddle has now hauled in at least seven catches in three of his last four games, as well as two TDs. He’s starting to produce the value the front office predicted when they drafted him sixth overall, earlier this year.

So, you would expect a blowout here, but the spread is currently at 7.5. The bookies feel that Miami can hang around with their home field advantage. The Ravens are susceptible against big plays and last week against the Vikings, Kirk Cousins marched his offence down the field to tie the game in the dying moments. I’m not sure if that’ll happen here, but Miami Head Coach, Brian Flores is certainly under pressure and will be throwing out all the stops, to try and slow down Action Jackson and the boys.

Ravens:

• Current Record: 6-2 (2-1 away).
• Offence (Yards Per Game, ESPN): Overall – 427.9 (2nd) // Passing – 266.3 (8th) // Rushing – 161.6 (1st).
• Defence (Yards Allowed Per Game, ESPN): Overall – 374.3 (23rd) // Passing – 282.5 (31st) // Rushing – 91.8 (5th).
• Points Per Game Stats, ESPN: PPG Scored – 27.6 (9th) // PPG Allowed – 24.4 (16th).
• Turnover differential: -3
• The Ravens beat the Dolphins when the last met in Hard Rock Stadium, 59-10 and have outscored them 137-16 in the last three matchups.

Miami:

• Current Record: 2-7 ( 1-3 home).
• Offence (Yards Per Game, ESPN): Overall – 297.4 (30th) // Passing – 222.3 (23rd) // Rushing – 75.1 (32nd).
• Defence (Yards Allowed Per Game, ESPN): Overall – 391.9 (30th) // Passing – 280.9 (30th) // Rushing – 111.0 (17th).
• Points Per Game Stats, ESPN: PPG Scored – 17.2 (29th) // PPG Allowed – 26.9 (28th).
• Turnover differential: -5
• Tua will be a game time decision, so Jacoby Brissett is on standby. Brissett has actually put up 25.3 yards more per game.
• According to Next Gen Stats, the Dolphins have blitz on 38.3% of drop backs this season, which is the 2nd-highest in NFL. Lamar Jackson has a completion 57.8% versus the Blitz. Lamar’s total completion % is 65.

The Ravens have dominated the Dolphins over the last few seasons, and it is looking like it might be the same here tonight. Lamar is a Florida boy through and through, and loves putting on a show in his home state. Hollywood Brown got his name from Hollywood Florida not LA, so he will also be trying to impress the home crowd. The Ravens are stacked on offence, and I can’t see it going any way, except a dominant away victory.

To give the Dolphins some credit, they are mid table in stopping the run, which is Baltimore’s strength. However, they are absolutely horrendous against the passing attack, and I think Lamar will expose them through Hollywood Brown and Mark Andrews tonight. Brown has had at least 80 yards receiving in three of his last four games, with the one under that figure coming against a decent Chargers passing D. Andrews has had at least four receptions in six of his eight games this year.

As mentioned above, Jaylen Waddle has been a bright spark for the Dolphin’s offence this season and is on track to break Anquan Bolden’s NFL rookie record of 101 receptions.

The Ravens have dominated the Dolphins over the last few seasons and it is looking like it might be the same here tonight. Lamar is a Florida boy through and through and loves putting on a show in his home state. Hollywood Brown got his name from Hollywood Florida, so he will also be out trying to impress the home crowd. The Ravens are stacked on offence and I can’t see it going any other way, except a dominant away victory.

To give the Dolphins some credit, they are mid table in stopping the run, which is Baltimore’s strength. However, they are absolutely horrendous against the passing attack, and I think Lamar will expose them through Hollywood Brown and Mark Andrews tonight. Brown has had at least 80 yards receiving in three of his last four games, with the one under that figure coming against the decent Chargers passing D. Andrews has had at least four receptions in six of his eight games this year.

As mentioned above, Jaylen Waddle has been a bright spark for the Dolphin’s offence this season and is on track to break Anquan Bolden’s NFL rookie record of 101 receptions.

The Thursday Bet Builder has been so close on every occasion, so I’m going to move it to a number of singles instead. I gots the brains. Best of luck y’all.

J.

CURRENT RECORD: 30-38 (we’re getting there – stick with me)