OWINGS MILLS, Md. — The Baltimore Ravens have a secret to avoid upsets: Don’t talk about it.
An impressive streak of dominating heavy underdogs will be on the line for Lamar Jackson and the Ravens on Sunday when they play host to the Carolina Panthers (1 p.m. ET, Fox). The Ravens are favored by 13 points, which makes them the biggest favorite in Week 11.
Ravens coach John Harbaugh, though, won’t caution his players about overlooking the Panthers.
“It’s not even an issue,” Harbaugh said. “What’s understood really doesn’t have to be explained. Our guys are motivated to win the game.”
Baltimore has typically taken care of business in games that it’s expected to win. With Jackson as their starting quarterback, the Ravens are 12-0 in regular-season games when favored by double digits. This is the best record in such games since 2018, when Jackson entered the NFL.
In those games, Jackson has thrown 27 touchdown passes and has averaged 81 yards rushing, while the Ravens have scored an average of 27 points.
The keys for Baltimore’s success have been jumping out to big leads and limiting mistakes. When favored by 10 points or more, the Ravens haven’t given any hope of an upset, outscoring teams 115-17 in the first quarter. Baltimore also doesn’t give easy opportunities, turning the ball over 11 times in those 12 games when being a double-digit favorite.
Jackson said the Ravens are “locked in” to play the Panthers (3-7), who rank 30th on offense and 25th on defense.
"We don’t take it lightly on any opponent. This is an NFL game,” Jackson said. "Every team has the best players in the world out there, so we’re not going to shy away from any opponent out there on that field.”
Sunday’s game marks Baltimore’s largest point spread since the 2020 regular-season finale, when the Ravens were favored by 13.5 points against the Cincinnati Bengals. Baltimore delivered a 38-3 rout.
This season, there have been four NFL teams who’ve been favored by 13 or more points. The only upset: the Panthers beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 21-3, after being 13-point underdogs.
With seven straight games against teams with losing records, Baltimore could face a string of games where it’s the heavy favorite. The Ravens (6-3) have won three straight to sit atop the AFC North, but they’ve struggled at times in the fourth quarter and finishing off teams.
“We’re winning, but we’re still not winning the way we would like to,” said Ravens outside linebacker Justin Houston, who ranks fourth in the NFL with 8.5 sacks. "We feel like even the last game in New Orleans (a 27-13 win), we left so many plays out there. We’re so hard on ourselves, it doesn’t even matter what the outside world is saying. It’s all about what we’re saying inside, and right now our standards are high. We haven’t reached those standards yet. We still have a lot of work to do, so we’re just trying to stay focused and get to those standards.”