NFL Week 5 picks: Who the ‘experts’ are taking in Ravens vs. Steelers

Even with the injuries piling up, the Ravens keep winning. Go with the team that has the best player on the field, and that’s Ravens QB Lamar Jackson. Still, this always seems to be a close game.

It’s a good sign for the Steelers that Kenny Pickett says his knee injury won’t keep him sidelined for this weekend’s divisional tilt. Even with Pickett, though, the offense has yet to be the well-oiled machine we saw in the preseason, recording less than 300 total yards in three of four games. Baltimore, meanwhile, welcomed Rashod Bateman, Odell Beckham Jr. and Marlon Humphrey back to practice this week. If the WR duo joins Zay Flowers and Mark Andrews on Sunday, Lamar Jackson — who has a 124.1 passer rating in two games against division opponents this season — could eviscerate a Pittsburgh defense that’s allowing the third-most yards in 2023. Give me the Ravens, who, with this win, would become the first team since the 2019 Chiefs to play each of their first three divisional games on the road and win all three.

The Ravens got a break in Cleveland with Deshaun Watson out. It’s hard to know whether they prefer seeing Kenny Pickett, with his banged-up knee, or Mitchell Trubisky. The Steelers’ offense as a whole is lost without Diontae Johnson and now Pat Freiermuth. But in a division rivalry game with Mike Tomlin fired up at home, the Steelers’ defense will respond after the Houston debacle to keep it close with Lamar Jackson.

The Ravens’ win over the Browns last week had very little to do with the offensive coordinator change from Greg Roman to Todd Monken. It had everything to do with Lamar Jackson, who was doing Lamar Jackson things. He created with his arm and legs to make enough plays out of structure against a tough Browns defense.

There was so much hype about Todd Monken taking over the Ravens offense that I was a little bit skeptical. And then the Ravens lost to the Colts. But the Ravens bounced back and flushed the Browns last week when Deshaun Watson was a last-minute no-go. And you should ride the Ravens now, as they are getting comfortable and confident with Monken. They lead the league in red-zone TD rate at 80 percent, with Lamar Jackson completing 80.8 percent of his red-zone passes as he is taking the shorter target (career-low 2.81 seconds per red-zone throw) rather than going for the big chunk or taking off and running. As for the Steelers, they can’t run the ball, and when quarterback Kenny Pickett announced Wednesday that he is playing with a sore knee, his fan base shrugged.