Ravens vs. Steelers Pick
Will Sunday’s Christmas Day showdown between the Ravens and Steelers turn into a defensive struggle at 4:30PM ET?
According to oddsmakers from online sports book BetDSI, the Steelers are 5.5-point home favorites versus the Ravens while the over/under is sitting at 44.5 points. The over/under hasn’t moved since opening earlier this week at that same 44.5-point number, but the Steelers were -4 before jumping to -5.5.
The Ravens kept their AFC North title hopes alive by holding on to a 27-26 win over the Eagles last Sunday at home. It was Baltimore’s third win in its last four games but the second time the Ravens failed to cover the point spread. They’re now 8-6 on the year and with a win, they would hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Steelers and be in the driver’s position to win the division. Baltimore is just 6-8 against the spread in 2016.
The Steelers won their fifth straight game last Sunday while rallying to beat the Bengals 24-20 in Cincinnati. At 9-5 they remain ahead of the Ravens in the AFC North but if they lose on Sunday they won’t hold the tie-breaker edge. Pittsburgh also covered as a 3-point favorite, giving the team nine wins at the betting window this season. It was their fourth consecutive cover.
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OUR PREDICTION: The under is 3-0-1 in the last four meetings between these two teams and is 3-1-1 in the last five meetings in Pittsburgh. The under is also 5-1 in the Ravens’ last six divisional games and is 19-6-1 in the Steelers’ last 26 games versus AFC North opponents. The Ravens haven’t played as well defensively over the last two weeks as they have for most of the season, but I’m willing to bet their strong defensively on Sunday. I’m willing to wager Pittsburgh also gives Baltimore’s inconsistent offense some troubles as well.
NFL WEEK 16 PREDICTION: RAVENS/STEELERS UNDER 44.5