The 5-2 Pittsburgh Steelers can hit two birds with one stone this weekend by taking down the 4-4 Baltimore Ravens. Assuming they win the rematch, the Steelers would have avenged their Week 4 loss to their bitter rival but also maintain their grip on the top spot of the AFC North, which they are priced -115 to win. The Ravens, meanwhile, are +255 to do just that. Can Joe Flacco and the Ravens beat Pittsburgh anew? Or will the Steelers even their season series with Baltimore up?
The Steelers rolled into their third win in a row last week, beating the Cleveland Browns at home, 33-18. Pittsburgh running back James Conner picked on the Browns’ defense once again. Back in Week 1, Conner rushed for 135 yards and two rushing scores in a tie with Cleveland. Last Sunday, he had 146 rushing yards and two touchdowns. He also added 66 receiving yards on five catches and six targets. Life is not going to be that easy for Conner next time around against a stingier Ravens’ defense, though, Baltimore’s run defense showed some cracks last week when it allowed 154 rushing yards to the Carolina Panthers. The Steelers have plenty of weapons to keep Baltimore’s defense guessing. The presence of wide receivers Antonio Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster will pose headaches for the Ravens. Brown ha 552 receiving yards and eight touchdowns on the season, while Smith-Schuster paces the Steelers with 594 receiving yards to go with a pair of touchdown grabs.
The Steelers are 3-1 ATS in their last four road games.
Betting on the Baltimore Ravens (4-4)
The Ravens could use a win against their bitter rivals to recover their moxie following back-to-back losses to the New Orleans Saints (24-23) in Week 7 and to the Panthers (36-21) in Week 8. The Ravens, however, can use their 26-14 victory over Pittsburgh way back in Week 4 at Heinz Field as a confidence booster. In that game, threw for 363 passing yards and two touchdowns without an interception on 28-of-42 completions. Wide receiver John Brown blew up for 116 receiving yards and a touchdown on only three receptions. In addition to that, the Ravens’ defense did it’s job effectively, especially in terms of limiting the Steelers’ backfield, which only put up a measly total of 19 rushing yards on 11 carries. Although the Ravens’ defense faltered in the Carolina game, it doesn’t mean Baltimore can’t recover it’s defensive identity as a punch-in-your-mouth type. The Ravens remain owners of the best scoring defense in the league with just 17.1 points allowed per game through the first weeks of the season. They are also tops in total defense with 293.8 total yards surrendered per contest.
The under is 2-0 in the Ravens’ last two home games.
Writer’s Prediction
The Ravens double down on their mastery of Pittsburgh this season with a 26-23 win.
