Pittsburgh Steelers vs Baltimore Ravens Picks and Predictions Week 13
Pittsburgh Steelers vs Baltimore Ravens Betting Preview
WagerTalk NFL handicapper Tony Mejia offers his Pittsburgh Steelers vs Baltimore Ravens NFL Week 13 AFC North betting preview. At the time of posting, the Ravens are holding steady as a 4.5-point road favorite at Pittsburgh, with the total sitting at 44 points.
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Pittsburgh Steelers vs Baltimore Ravens Predictions
- Baltimore Ravens -4.5 at Pittsburgh Steelers
- Total: 44 Points
- The underdog has covered the spread in each of the last seven meetings in this series.
- The Steelers are 1-6 against the spread in their last seven at Heinz Field
- Pittsburgh is 10-4 against the spread in their last 14 games as an underdog.
The Ravens (8-3, 5-6 ATS) arrive in Pittsburgh looking to administer a knockout blow of their arch rival. The Steelers (5-5-1, 4-7 ATS) are on the outside looking in as far as the playoff goes and will play nothing but solid football teams the rest of the way. Falling under .500 by losing at home to Baltimore would be the equivalent of falling into the ocean knowing you can’t swim.
Glug, glug is on the horizon.
We’ll see whether Pittsburgh manages to stumble upon a life raft, but the week didn’t start off in promising fashion considering star pass rusher T.J. Watt was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list to start the week. Although he’s not ruled out just yet, it’s increasingly unlikely that he’ll be on the field this weekend. Lamar Jackson will have one less variable to worry about as he looks to shake out of a funk that has led to the Ravens managing just 16 points in their last two games.
Thanks to how well Baltimore’s defense has played, both have been victories.
The Ravens own the AFC’s top record following last Sunday night’s win over the Browns, overcoming four Jackson interceptions. John Harbaugh deserves the NFL Coach of the Year award over New England’s Bill Belichick, Arizona’s Kliff Kingsbury, Tennessee’s Mike Vrabel and Green Bay’s Matt LaFleur given all the adversity his team has faced thanks to injuries and inconsistent offense.
Jackson has thrown nine picks over the last five games, as many as he misfired on in 15 contests last season and three more than he did during his MVP season in ’19. He’s already up to 12 through the first 10 games, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see a conservative approach prevail given Baltimore’s defensive dominance of late, Watt’s likely absence and Pittsburgh’s own lack of firepower.
The Steelers managed 10 points against the Bengals, matching a season-low scored against that same Cincinnati defense back in Week 3. They managed just 15 points in a win at Cleveland on Halloween and tied Detroit 16-16, showing off how limited the offense is over 70 minutes instead of the usual 60.
The Steelers gave up 41 points for the second straight week and lost another key offensive weapon with tight end Pat Freiermuth being evaluated for a concussion, so it’s becoming painfully obvious that this just isn’t their year. Pittsburgh lost key defender Stephon Tuitt before the season started, saw nose tackle Tyson Alualu injured in Week 2 and WR JuJu Smith-Schuster go down with a shoulder, so the signs have definitely all been there. Now the schedule is set to pile on because the least sympathetic team possible is on the schedule
Pittsburgh closes with two games against the rival Ravens in addition to showdowns against the Vikings, Titans, Chiefs and Browns. That means the Steelers will need to pull off roughly three upsets if they’re going to avoid missing the postseason for the third time in four years.
The Ravens lost last season’s meetings by scores of 28-24 and 19-14, which ended Jackson’s 3-0 run against the Steelers since taking over for Joe Flacco. He was only involved in that first game since he was out due to COVID-19 and replaced by Trace McSorley for the most recent meeting last December.
The Steelers will be relying on their defense to try and pull off an upset since they’re rightfully a 3.5-point home underdog, so the low side of a total that is in the 44-44.5-point range may be worth a look. Baltimore has been held to 17 or fewer points in four of the last five games, so even though the Pittsburgh defense has been shredded lately, it wouldn’t be surprising to see it clamp down against its hated rival even with Watt likely out.
Jackson’s turnover woes should lead the Ravens to go run-heavy, riding the quarterback’s legs in addition to the contributions of veterans Devonta Freeman and Latavius Murray. Mother Nature could also play a starring role since rain is expected to be in the forecast. The ‘under’ looks like a solid play.
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Pittsburgh Steelers vs Baltimore Ravens Analysis from The GoldSheet
Pittsburgh Steelers vs Baltimore Ravens Video Preview
Does Ben Roethlisberger have enough in the tank to engineer one last upset against the Steelers’ AFC North rival? WagerTalk NFL handicappers Dave Cokin, Adam Trigger and Kelly Stewart offer their Pittsburgh Steelers vs Baltimore Ravens preview.
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