Steelers vs Ravens is the first Sunday Night Football matchup of 2023 and promises to be an exciting affair. Here’s all you need to know from a betting perspective.
As I drove through Baltimore yesterday afternoon, through the fog and smell of burnt rubber, I thought to myself – wow, I’m lucky to live in Virginia.
A child raised on the streets of Timonium, Maryland; my parents opted to fly south as I edged toward age five. My memories of those Baltimore days are fleeting, but they taught me an important thing: how to drive.
I’ll be putting together a tier list later, but folks from Maryland don’t know how to drive. I know it sounds like a vast generalization, but if you’re from Virginia or any surrounding states, you’re familiar with the eye roll as Maryland plates cut you off on I-95.
So the question for the Baltimore Ravens today will be – can you drive? Because you’ve looked just like you’re fans over the last four weeks.
Despite a 3-1 record since the loss of Lamar Jackson, the Ravens’ offense has averaged just 11.5 points per game. They’ll need to be better than that against Kenny Pickett and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Don’t @ me, Maryland.
Pittsburgh Steelers (7-8) @ Baltimore Ravens (10-5)
Steelers vs Ravens game info:
- Location: M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, MD
- Time: Sunday 1/1 at 8:20p EST
- Channel: NBC
Steelers vs Ravens betting info:
- SPREAD: BAL -2
- OVER/UNDER: 35
- MONEYLINE: BAL (-130), PIT (+110)
Steelers vs Ravens preview:
Week 17 – the penultimate week of the NFL and the last chance for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
I don’t think it’s unreasonable to say they’ll need a lot of help to reach the postseason, starting with wins over the next two weeks.
They’ll be watching the Miami Dolphins especially closely, who will face off with the Patriots in New England. Even one more win from the Fins would eliminate the Terrible Towels, which should make the betting public nervous because, by game time, the Steelers may already know their playoff hopes are shattered.
I would wait until around 4p to place any bets on the Steelers, but I believe in Mac Jones and the Patriots against a Dolphins team trotting out Teddy Bridgewater. Apologies for discussing the Dolphins this much in a Steelers-Ravens preview, but this information should inform intelligent betting.
Back to the Sunday Night AFC North clash at hand.
While the Steelers may rank 29th in the NFL in scoring at 17.6, they may still be fighting for their life, and I think we saw something noteworthy from Pickett last week.
Call it figuring it out, call it a fluke, but Pickett found a way to lead his team 76-yards down the field for a victory, effectively ending Derek Carr‘s career in Las Vegas. There’s some momentum.
While I wouldn’t call 13 points against the Raiders an offensive showcase, they might not need much more than that tonight against Tyler Huntley‘s offense.
Speaking of points, I know that o/u might look juicy at 35 but keep in mind that if these two teams had played each other over the last four weeks, they would have averaged a cumulative 29 points per matchup. That’s my long-winded way of telling you that you shouldn’t expect much scoring, even with unseasonally warm weather in the DMV.
It’s also worth noting that Baltimore corner Marcus Peters will be out for the second week in a row, so the Steelers could look to build off Pickett’s 39 pass attempts from a week prior.
Although the Pickett air raid is in its infancy, Diontae Johnson and George Pickens will only need to worry about Marlon Humprey, who PFF ranks 19th in the NFL in coverage. Still, Humprey can’t cover both of them.
With their season on the line, I don’t think Mike Tomlin will fumble this one. Steelers roll, kind of.
