2023 NFL picks, score predictions for Week 12

Baltimore Ravens (8-3) @ Los Angeles Chargers (4-6)

Sunday, November 26, 8:20 PM ET

The Baltimore Ravens got back on track in Week 11 with a big win over the Cincinnati Bengals, a game where Cincinnati obviously lost star QB Joe Burrow to a season-ending wrist injury.

The Ravens continue to play good football as a team, and I will say again what I’ve already said seemingly a million times at this point: I think the Ravens are the best sum of their parts out of any team in the NFL right now.

What do I mean by that? What I mean is that Baltimore may not be the most talented team in the NFL in terms of looking at their roster on paper, but they play as well together as any other team in the NFL.

I’m not typically a fan of picking road teams coming from the East Coast to play against West Coast teams at home, but this is one of the rare exceptions. This is one of the rare exceptions for a few reasons.

First, and foremost, the Chargers are not playing well as a team right now. They just aren’t. Say what you want about Justin Herbert, injuries, Brandon Staley, or whatever. The Chargers just aren’t playing good enough football as a team.

Second, the Chargers don’t have a good home-field advantage as it is. It’s a big advantage for a team like Seattle playing at home, or Denver, or San Francisco. It’s not really an advantage for a team like Los Angeles.

The Ravens are 3.5-point favorites and while I think that’s fair because the Chargers can score a lot of points, I also think that’s selling the Ravens a bit short. The Chargers are 2-4 in their last six games, and their two wins have come against the New York Jets (who are incompetent offensively) and the Tyson Bagent-led Chicago Bears.

Prediction: Ravens win 29-24