Pittsburgh Steelers vs Baltimore Ravens NFL Betting Preview

Pittsburgh Steelers (8-7 9-6 ATS) at Baltimore Ravens (13-2 9-6 ATS)

• Betting Line: Ravens -1 O/U 39.5
• Moneyline Odds: Steelers +110 – Ravens +100
• When: Sunday, December 29, at 4:25 PM ET
• Where: M&T Bank Stadium Baltimore, MD
• Watch Live: CBS, Kayo

The Steelers are in a must win game in this road game against the Ravens, who will be resting several starters including probable MVP Lamar Jackson (pictured).

For the Steelers to make the playoffs they need a win over the Ravens and for the Tennessee Titans to lose to the Houston Texans. They are tied with the Titans, but Tennessee holds the tiebreaker. Pittsburgh can lose and still make the playoffs, but the Titans would have to lose as well as get a lot more help in order to pass Tennessee in terms of strength of victory percentage.

The Ravens have the top-seed in the AFC wrapped up, which is why they are resting Jackson, leading RB Mark Ingram, G Marshal Yanda, S Earl Thomas and DE Brandon Williams and a couple of other starters that have not been named.

Robert Griffin III will start under center for Baltimore and in limited action this season has 129 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

The Steelers have lost their last two games where their defense was solid, but they only scored 10 points in each game. In their last game they were on the road and lost to the New York Jets 16-10.

Earlier this season in Pittsburgh the Ravens beat the Steelers 26-23 in overtime.

In their loss to the Jets in their last game the Steelers outgained New York (260-259) but they had two turnovers and only rushed for 75 yards.

Devlin Hodges was responsible for both turnovers and was picked off twice before getting benched. Mason Rudolph came in and had a touchdown but then injured his shoulder with Hodges coming back in and he will get the start in this game. Hodges had been playing well but in his last two games he has been picked off six times.

Pittsburgh leading rusher James Conner also left the game with an injury and he is listed as questionable for this season finale. If Conner cannot go Kerrith Whyte (6 carries 22 yards against Jets) and Barry Snell Jr. (7 carries 14 yards against Jets) will shoulder the load in the backfield.

The Baltimore defense will be down a few players and on the season they rank seventh in the league in pass defense and fourth in run defense.

The Ravens are riding an 11-game winning streak and they rank first in ppg and rushing yards per game. Both Jackson and Ingram have rushed for over 1,000 yards and with them resting Gus Edwards (581 yards 2 TD) will be the lead RB. In Baltimore’s last game they beat the Cleveland Browns 31-15 and Edwards rushed for 66 yards averaging 5.5 yards per carry.

RG3 has some solid WR’s and TE Mark Andrews leads the team in receiving yards but look for the Ravens to lead on Edwards and the run game in this one.

Pittsburgh has only given up 17 and 16 points, respectively, in their last two games and overall they rank fifth in the league defending the pass and 10th defending the run.

Steelers versus Ravens NFL Betting Key Stats

• Steelers are 9-4 ATS in their last 13 games
• Steelers are 5-2 ATS in their last seven games facing a team with a winning record
• Steelers have an Under record of 19-7 in their last 26 games

• Ravens are 8-1 ATS in their last nine games
• Ravens are 5-1 ATS in their last six games facing a team with a winning record
• Ravens have an Over record of 5-2 in their last seven games facing a team from the AFC North

Pittsburgh v Baltimore NFL Head-to-Head Facts & Figures

• Road team is 5-1 ATS in the last six games between these teams
• Underdog is 4-0 ATS in the last four games between these teams
• In the last five games between these teams in Baltimore the Under record is 5-0

Pittsburgh Steelers vs Baltimore Ravens Picks

The Ravens will be without their big guns in this one, but can the Steelers take advantage of that? Hodges has been a turnover machine in the last two games and the Pittsburgh run game is a big question mark. Look for RG3 and Edwards to play well and in a close game the Ravens will get the home win and likely end the Steelers’ season.