It hasn't been going on all that long, but the Pittsburgh Steelers/Baltimore Ravens rivalry has certainly become one of the more intense in the league. And Sunday night's latest edition at the place some folks call the Bird's Nest (8:20 Eastern, NBC) again comes with some high stakes, and should be a bruiser.
Earlier this week
BetJamaica.com opened this game with Baltimore favored by three points, with an OVER/UNDER of 38.5. As of Friday morning the line has remained the same, but the total has been bet up to 40.
The Ravens are also listed at -155 on the
BetJamaica.com NFL betting moneyline, with the Steelers getting +135 to win the game outright.
Pittsburgh is coming off a fortunate 19-16 overtime win in Buffalo last Sunday. The Steelers ran for 206 yards and led almost the entire game, but coulda/shoulda lost on a Bills bomb that was dropped in the end zone.
Baltimore, meanwhile, looked rather uninspired last Sunday in beating Tampa Bay 17-10.
Nonetheless, both these teams have won two games in a row, and they're tied for the lead in the AFC North, both at 8-3. The Ravens, though, own the tiebreaker, having beaten Pittsburgh 17-14 back in Week 4 at Heinz Field.
Baltimore took advantage of the absence of suspended Pittsburgh QB Ben Roethlisberger that day to get that important victory. Pittsburgh led early 7-0, but the Ravens led 10-7 at the half. The Steelers took the lead on a Rashard Mendenhall TD run midway through the fourth quarter, but Baltimore won the game on an 18-yard Joe Flacco TD pass to T.J. Houshmandzadeh with 30 seconds to go. The Ravens won outright as 2-point underdogs that day, and the game played UNDER its posted total of 34.
Last year, these two teams split their two games, each winning by a field goal on its home field. The season previous, Pittsburgh swept three games from Baltimore, one in the playoffs, by scores of 23-20, 13-9, and 23-14. So the last six games in this series have been decided by an average of about four points, and they've averaged 35.5 PPG.
Statistically speaking, Pittsburgh is outgaining opponents this season by a 335-305 YPG margin, and outrushing foes 126-64, while Baltimore is outgaining opponents 348-307 and outrushing them 114-102.
So far this NFL season teams that outrush their opponents are 118-55 (68%) vs. the
BetJamaica.com pointspreads.
Both these teams are 5-6 on the totals so far this season, as both teams' games have averaged just less than 40 PPG.
The Steelers are 7-2 vs. the Ravens when Roethlisberger starts. And despite a foot injury suffered Sunday in Buffalo, it appears Big Ben will be ready to go this Sunday.