How many fireworks will Mahomes, Jackson provide Monday?

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Two of the NFL's best quarterbacks face off Monday when Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens (-3.5, 53.5) host Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.

Here's what could be in store for the two former MVPs.

Ravens can't stop Mahomes

If Mahomes plays anything like he did in his first two meetings with Baltimore, it could be a long night for the Ravens' defense.

In 2018, the Chiefs star threw for 377 yards and two touchdowns on a career-high 53 attempts vs. Baltimore. His 2019 performance was even better, as he tallied 374 yards and three touchdowns with a completion percentage of 73% - the seventh-highest mark in his career.

His high usage in that first contest bodes well for this one. When Mahomes attempts at least 44 passes, he's averaging 3.16 touchdowns per game. He's also among the NFL's best against the blitz, which could mean trouble for a Ravens defense that blitzed a league-high 54.9% of the time in 2019.

In a "down" year for him thus far, Mahomes has already thrown for 513 yards and five touchdowns, including two against the Chargers' stacked secondary. He has 17 touchdowns over his last five games dating back to the playoffs, and the Chiefs will need similar production from him to steal a road win in Baltimore.

Jackson in elite form

After running away with the MVP race a year ago, Jackson has been even more impressive through two games this season.

Nobody averaged more touchdowns per attempt than the Ravens quarterback in 2019, when he scored on 9% of his passes - tied for the second-highest mark in the modern era (min. 300 attempts). This year, he's still scoring on 8.2% of his passing attempts, but he's upped his passing yards per game (239.5), yards per attempt (9.8), and completion percentage (77.6%) from last season.

He already has four passing touchdowns on 50 attempts this year despite easing up late in two blowout victories. He's also yet to rush for one, which is due for positive regression after seven scores on the ground in 2019. The Chiefs have struggled against mobile quarterbacks, allowing five rushing touchdowns to QBs a year ago - tied for second most by any team.

Kansas City's defense hasn't looked particularly sharp this year, either. Deshaun Watson played one of his best games in Week 1 in spite of a modest stat line, and Justin Herbert torched Kansas City in his first-ever start on short notice. All but one of Herbert's attempts came from shotgun or pistol, which provides a blueprint for the pistol-heavy Ravens to exploit the Chiefs on Monday night.

Expect points on Monday

If this game plays out like oddsmakers expect, we'll be hearing these two quarterbacks' names all night.

Since he became the full-time starter in 2018, Mahomes is averaging 2.7 touchdowns per regular-season start and has been responsible for 49.9% of the Chiefs' scoring production. Jackson has averaged 2.8 touchdowns since the start of 2019 and has a 49.1% share of the Ravens' scores.

If those trends hold up, a betting total of 53.5 would suggest a pair of scores for each quarterback - with the potential for more in a shootout. With the way these two offenses look, there's no telling how many points we'll see on Monday night.

(Odds source: theScore Bet)

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