Baltimore Ravens @ Pittsburgh Steelers
8:20pm ET @ Heinz Field, Pittsburgh PA
Projected Score: Steelers: 27 Ravens: 24
Game Lines: Steelers (-3) / O/U (51.0)
TV Broadcast:
Sunday Night Football on NBC; Coverage starts at 8pm ET. With Al Michaels as the play-by-play announcer, with Cris Collinsworth as the color commentator and Michele Tafoya as the sideline reporter.
Radio Broadcast:
Steelers Radio Network- Game coverage begins at 8:00 p.m. ET. Calling the game will be Bill Hillgrove (play-by-play), Tunch Ilkin (color analyst) and Craig Wolfley (sideline).
All fans in the Pittsburgh area can listen locally on WDVE 102.5 FM & WBGG 970 AM.
Injury Report:
S Morgan Burnett - Doubtful
G David DeCastro -Probable
G Ramon Foster - Probable
OT Marcus Gilbert -Probable
CB Mike Hilton - Doubtful
C Maurkice Pouncey -Probable
QB Ben Roethlisberger -Probable
WR JuJu Smith-Schuster - Probable
What to Watch For
1.Ben Roethlisberger
Big Ben is coming off of his second straight week of exceptional performance and will look to continue that success this week. He has thrown for 6 TDs and 1 INT and 805 passing yards with 1 Rush TD over the past 2 weeks. The Ravens have only allowed 4 passing touchdowns all season and intercepted opposing QBs 3 times.
#Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was nearly flawless against the #Bucs' blitz Monday night: 10/12, 162 yards, three TDs, 158.3 rating. More: https://t.co/pbcqZEKLHK
— Thomas Bassinger (@tometrics) September 25, 2018
2. JuJu Smith-Schuster
Smith-Schuster has amassed 4 straight 100+ yard games over his past 4 regular season contests, it is becoming more likely we see him face some double coverages in the near future. Smith-Schuster is currently 3rd in the NFL in receiving yards. Should he see stiffer coverage this will likely open up more opportunities for Antonio Brown who has seen the most double and triple coverages in the NFL this season.
Week 17: 9 catches, 143 yards, TD
Week 1: 5 catches, 119 yards
Week 2: 13 catches, 121 yards, TD
Week 3: 9 catches, 116 yardsJuJu Smith-Schuster has eclipsed 100 receiving yards in four consecutive regular season games, dating back to Week 17 of last season. pic.twitter.com/WHNAF6fQPl
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) September 29, 2018
3. Steelers Pass Defense without CB Mike Hilton
The Steelers defense thus far has shown to be very suspect allowing 5.9 yards per play and 12 total TDs (10 passing TDs). It is very likely CB Mike Hilton will miss Sunday night's contest. Hilton has become a very solid player in the secondary in coverage and blitzing the Quarterback. CB Cam Sutton will be the player to replace Hilton, with the occasional rotation with Nat Berhe. Sutton has mainly played outside CB but a shift to the slot is nothing new, he saw time at the position during his college career at Tennessee.
Getting after Joe Flacco will be a key to success for the defense. On Monday night against the Bucs they were able to provide constant pressure on Ryan Fitzpatrick which gave them the ability to force turnovers. It is also noteworthy that CB Artie Burns may give way to CB Coty Sensabaugh as the starter for the second straight week. Outside of a key forced fumble last week Burns has struggled mightily in 2018.
PICK-6! ????
Interception #3 for the @Steelers defense! #HereWeGo
????: #PITvsTB on ESPN pic.twitter.com/8ks7mxFjU6
— NFL (@NFL) September 25, 2018
Matchup History since 2006:
- W/L RECORD 13-13
- Straight-Up 12-12-2 Against The Spread
- TOTAL POINTS SCORED: Ravens 546 pts / Steelers 536 pts
Gambling Advice
Advice courtesy of Scott Gramling (SI.com Gambling Analyst)
LINE: Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers (-3)
"Three things you need to know before betting on Baltimore-Pittsburgh:
1. Bettors should always be leery of a team coming off a Monday night game, especially when that team is coming off a short week after having played on the road. Pittsburgh was - by Tampa Bay in the Steelers’ 30-27 win, and Pittsburgh nearly blew a 20-point halftime lead after failing to score in the second half. Teams playing on a Sunday after having been on the road the previous Monday night went 5-11 straight up and 4-12 against the spread last season, with three of those four teams that won and covered doing so against weak opponents the following Sunday: 1) The Vikings came off a Monday night game in Chicago to beat a Green Bay squad that lost Aaron Rodgers to a broken collarbone in the first quarter; 2) The Lions followed up a Monday night game in Chicago with a Week 10 comeback victory over a Browns team that at one point had held its first double-digit lead of the season; and 3) The Falcons came off a Monday game in Seattle with a win over a Buccaneers team that would end the season with a 5-11 record. The fourth Sunday win and cover by a team coming off a Monday road game was the Patriots, who had rested several starters in what was a relatively meaningless Week 14 game in Miami, winning by three as a 2.5-point road favorite in Pittsburgh in a game that flipped on a controversial overturning of what had first been deemed a Jesse James game-winning touchdown reception. The lone team that won straight up but failed to cover the spread was Pittsburgh, which beat Baltimore 39-38 as a six-point home favorite after having played in relatively nearby Cincinnati the previous Monday.
2. The Steelers and Ravens have attempted the most passes in the AFC with Pittsburgh's Ben Roethlisberger airing it out 139 times and Baltimore's Joe Flacco throwing 129 passes over the season’s first three games. While Roethlisberger has been more efficient with his throws, the Ravens clearly have the superior pass defense in this matchup. No NFL team has allowed fewer yards per pass attempt (5.1) than Baltimore, and the Ravens rank second behind only Detroit in passing yards allowed (169 yards per game). Pittsburgh, meanwhile, ranks 28th in the league in passing yards allowed despite the fact that one of Pittsburgh’s three games has come against Cleveland’s Tyrod Taylor in rain and relatively high winds.
3. Baltimore is 5-1-1 against the spread over the past seven matchups in this rivalry, a mark that includes a 3-0-1 ATS record over the past four games these teams have played at Heinz Field. The Steelers are 0-6 ATS in their past six home games dating back to mid-November, losing three of those games outright. The Ravens, meanwhile, are 16-8 ATS as an underdog of three points or fewer since John Harbaugh took over as the team’s head coach prior to the 2008 season.
Pick: Baltimore +3
Confidence Level: High (on a scale of Low/Moderate/High/Very High/Extremely High)"
