NFL Matchups: The Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers had the hottest and fiercest rivalry in the NFL for the past decade although the struggles of the Steelers over the past two years have served to tone down the series ramifications. The Ravens are coming off a bad AFC North Division home loss to the Cincinnati Bengals that makes this a must win game while Pittsburgh saw improved offense but their defense let the Cleveland Browns through the back door.
The Baltimore Ravens will host the Pittsburgh Steelers at M&T Bank Stadium on Thursday night with coverage on CBS starting at 8:25 PM ET.
Near Loss on Letup
The Steelers took a 27-3 half time lead over the Cleveland Browns last week but let them off the hook and needed a 41 yard field goal at the gun by Shaun Suisham to escape with a 30-27 win as 5.5 point home favorites. Ben Roethlisberger passed for 365 yards and a TD while Le’Veon Bell ran for 109 yards and a TD. The Steelers defense allowed an alarming 183 yards on 30 rush attempts.
Blown Rally
Baltimore rallied from a 15-0 deficit to take a 16-15 lead with 5:46 to play only to blow it a minute later when AJ Green hauled in a 77 yard TD pass from Andy Dalton to give Cincinnati a 23-16 win over the Ravens as one point road dogs. Ravens QB Joe Flacco had an erratic day of passing with 35 of 62 for 345 yards with a TD and INT.
Matchup and Pick
The Steelers have struggled to maintain their board value on the road with just seven payouts in their last 20 away games as just six out of their last 17 away games have gone under the total. Baltimore has covered the spread in just eight out of their last 20 home games at M&T Bank Stadium with seven out of their last 10 games at home going under the total. Baltimore has come away with the money in just three out of their last 13 games against Pittsburgh with five out of the last seven games between the Steelers and Ravens going over the total. Pittsburgh has covered the spread in five out of their last six games at Baltimore with four out of the last five games at Baltimore between the Ravens and Steelers going over the total. We’ll ride the strong Pittsburgh trend and take the Steelers in this NFC North showdown.
