The Pittsburgh Steelers will host their divisional rivals on Sunday as the Baltimore Ravens come to town. The winner of this game will temporarily take the lead in the AFC North, and the Steelers have a chance to better their divisional record to 2-0 prior to the bye week. The division as a whole is underperforming compared to preseason expectations and it goes without saying that these divisional games carry more weight than others.
The Steelers are 4.5 point underdogs in this home game following a disappointing showing against the Houston Texans last Sunday as the oddsmakers are clearly losing faith in the team. Colin Cowherd offered up his thoughts on this matchup in his segment Blazin’ 5 on The Herd.
“The Steelers are getting crushed by everybody, but I am going to take Pittsburgh +4.5. They have won five-of-six against the Ravens,” Cowherd said, “Lamar Jackson, more than any opponent struggles against Pittsburgh. His passer rating against the Steelers is 66.”
He is right, Jackson has had uncharacteristic struggles against the Steelers. Pittsburgh’s defense has kept a lid on him as both a passer and a runner in their limited exposure to each other, though the Steelers have rarely seen Jackson due to various injuries and illnesses that have held him out of games. In just three career starts against the Steelers, his record is 1-2. The only win he registered against the team was in 2019, but even then he threw three interceptions to just one touchdown.
“Don’t sell all your stock because they had a lousy game in Houston. Pittsburgh and Tomlin, when they can be underdogs, are very effective especially against rivals. Baltimore to me is good, but overvalued, Pittsburgh is pretty good, but undervalued.”
The season is still young, and the team is currently 2-2 with a chance to take the AFC North lead. For perspective, that is an upgrade compared to their 2022 pace of 1-3 through the first four weeks in a season that ended 9-8 with a chance at the playoffs right up until the very end.
Cowherd ultimately chose the Ravens to win, but thinks the Steelers will cover the spread in a classic AFC North matchup. The Steelers have history on their side with Mike Tomlin’s 11-2 record bouncing back from 20-plus point defeats. If you pair that with the Steelers’ recent success against the Ravens, all signs point to a close game. It would be very on-brand for the Steelers to go into their bye week on top of the division, but still surrounded by a cloud of negativity following another low-scoring game.
