While the Pittsburgh Steelers hold a lead over the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC North and are hosting them in Week 11 at Acrisure Stadium, Baltimore enters the game as consensus 3.5-point favorites, according to VSiN.
Both FanDuel and Caesars have Baltimore at -3.5, while DraftKings has Baltimore -3.
The Ravens have boasted one of the league’s best offensive attacks this season, and they’re coming off a 35-34 win over the Cincinnati Bengals in a shootout on Thursday Night Football. QB Lamar Jackson is playing the best football of his career, and he threw for 290 yards and four touchdowns against the Bengals on Thursday. While Jackson is a threat on his own, the Ravens also tout the best running back in football this season. RB Derrick Henry, who the team signed as a free agent this offseason, has 1,120 yards and 12 touchdowns in 10 games this season.
Henry is averaging a whopping 6.1 yards per carry. Limiting what he can do on the ground is going to be paramount if the Steelers want to get their divisional slate off to a good start.
It’s a little bit of a surprise that the Ravens are more than field goal favorites, though, as it’s a road game and it’s not as if Pittsburgh is coming in cold. The Steelers held off the Washington Commanders 28-27 following a late touchdown pass to the newly-acquired Mike Williams, and Pittsburgh’s passing attack has started to take off with Russell Wilson under center. Meanwhile, Baltimore’s passing defense has been a major concern all season, and the Ravens just had Joe Burrow throw for 428 yards and four touchdowns against them.
Recently, the Steelers also have had success against Baltimore, holding a 7-1 record against them in their last eight meetings. But there’s a lot of hype around Baltimore and how their offense has performed this season. Given how quickly the Ravens can put up points, it seems as if Vegas is expecting them to get going and hold off the Steelers, winning by at least four points.
Given what we know about the Steelers and the Ravens, it’s bound to be a hard-fought, close game. While these games are usually ones that are defensive battles, given Pittsburgh’s penchant for taking shots with Wilson under center, Baltimore’s weak pass defense and potent offense, this might be more high-scoring than the typical Steelers-Ravens game that we’re used to. But with Pittsburgh’s defense still a strength, it’ll come down to if they can slow down and limit what Jackson and Henry can do. The Acrisure Stadium crowd could also give the Steelers a boost as they look to extend their divisional lead.
