Steelers Look to Stay Relevant – Travel to Baltimore in Week 13
The Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens meet for the second time in three weeks on Sunday with one team holding a little momentum and the other just hoping to hold onto the ball! The Steelers would love to just forget about a Week 12 loss in which they turned the ball over eight times while the Ravens can use their Week 12 comeback win as a rallying cry for the rest of the season. Ben Roethlisberger has an outside chance of returning to action this week – the Steelers absolutely need him to in order to have a chance in this game.
Pittsburgh Steelers (6-5) vs. Baltimore Ravens (9-2)
Date/Time: Sunday, December 2, 4:25 PM ET
Venue: M&T Bank Stadium
Broadcast: CBS
Steelers vs. Ravens Betting Lines from betonline.com
Spread: Not Available Yet
Moneyline: Not Available Yet
Over/Under: Not Available Yet
The Pittsburgh Steelers have lost two straight games – it is absolutely no coincidence that Byron Leftwich and Charlie Batch were the starting QBs in those games. Pittsburgh is a completely different team without Big Ben in the lineup – all of their dangerous playmakers are completely muzzled without his presence.
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The Steelers have weapons on offense and are 15th in the NFL in passing and 22nd in rushing. But absolutely nothing went right last week against Cleveland. All four of the Steelers running backs fumbled at least once during the contest – amazing and Charlie Batch threw three interceptions. Nobody knows where this team is going with their four-headed rushing game and everyone knows where this team is going if Big Ben isn’t behind center.
Defensively, the Steelers are top notch once again – you can’t blame them for Pittsburgh’s recent woes! They are #1 against the pass and #5 versus the run and this unit gives up just 19.09 points per game – 4th in the NFL.
Steelers linebacker LaMarr Woodley and offensive lineman Mike Adams both left last week`s game with ankle injuries to join Ben, Troy Polamalu and a few other Pittsburgh starters – it doesn`t seem fair does it?
The Baltimore Ravens have been dodging a few bullets lately but they are still getting it done – 9-2 on the season and with a huge lead in the AFC North. But Baltimore has been a tad vulnerable this year – teams like the Browns, the Roethlisbergerless Steelers and the Chargers have played them very tough as of late. Only a 4th and 29 conversion with less than two minutes remaining last week salvaged the win.[soliloquy id=”82219″]
Baltimore enters Sunday`s game as the 9th best scoring team – 11th in passing and a surprisingly low 21st in rushing. But if you have watched the Ravens at all this year, you would know that they are a much different team at home than they are on the road – especially Joe Flacco.
Defensively the Ravens have been a tad disappointing this season – the loss of Ray Lewis has been a major issue! Baltimore is 23rd against the pass and 26th against the run – hard to believe!
Betting Prediction: A few trends to consider:
• The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Pittsburgh’s last 6 games
• The total has gone OVER in 5 of Pittsburgh’s last 7 games on the road
• Pittsburgh is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games
• Pittsburgh is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games when playing Baltimore
• Baltimore is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home
• Baltimore is 8-1 SU in its last 9 games
• The total has gone OVER in 4 of Baltimore’s last 5 games at home
• Baltimore is 7-2 SU in its last 9 games when playing at home against Pittsburgh
The only way that there is a competitive game here is if Ben Roethlisberger returns to action this week and if he does, you`d have to think that he will be a tad tentative. The Ravens smell blood and have won four of the last six versus the Steelers. They have also won seven of nine at home versus Pittsburgh. This game should be all Ravens – no reason to think they don’t dominate. If they don’t, I really can’t see Baltimore as a legitimate contender to win it all this year!
Pick: Baltimore Ravens
