Saturday, February 4th, 2012
The Pittsburgh Steelers will look to rebound when they face AFC North division rivals the Baltimore Ravens in an NFL football game on Sunday night in prime time. Kick off time in Baltimore is scheduled for 5:20PM Eastern Time with national television coverage provided by NBC. The LVSC NFL odds makers have set the opening point spread in this game and the Baltimore Ravens opened as a 1 point favorite with the over under coming in at 39. The early money from the NFL betting public has come in on the home team, as the Baltimore Ravens are currently a 2-½ point favorite. The total has seen early money from the NFL betting public towards the over, as the total is currently lined at 39 ½ points. NFL money line players can make a play on the favored Baltimore Ravens at –120 with the road underdog Pittsburgh Steelers bringing back +100 to win without the points on their side.
The Steelers enter this divisional game with the Ravens on a two game losing streak and are sitting at 6-4 on the season. They are coming off an embarrassing 27-24 overtime loss to the Chiefs and it was a game where they out gained Kansas City 515 yards to 282 yet came up short on the final score. The Steelers were sloppy in the game committing 3 turnovers. A huge issue for the Steelers is the health of starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Big Ben suffered a concussion last week and was forced to leave the game. Roethlisberger has told the media that he has passed his medical tests and he will start in this crucial game on Sunday night. The defending Super Bowl champs will be without their impact player on defense as Troy Polamalu is officially out of this game with a knee sprain. Ben Roethlisberger is hitting on 69% of his passes this season with 17 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He has taken 29 sacks in 10 games. In their loss to the Chiefs, Roethlisberger hit on 32 of 42 passing for 398 yards three touchdowns but 2 interceptions. Second year pro Rashard Mendenhall has ran the ball effectively on the season with 5.1 yards a carry average. The Steelers are still a solid defense allowing just 18 points a game. Pittsburgh is number one in the league against the run allowing just 69 yards per game and 3.4 yards per rush attempt. They don’t give up many big plays in the passing game with 9.8 yards per completion against average. Baltimore sits at 5-5 on the season and cannot afford many more losses if they are to earn a post-season berth in the AFC. They have dropped 5 of their past 7 decisions and were beaten 17-15 last week against Indy. The team has struggled on the scoreboard producing just 38 points over their past 3 games. Starting quarterback Joe Flacco is hitting on 65% of his passes with 19 touchdowns but 13 interceptions on the year. Joe Flacco has not thrown a touchdown pass in his past three games. The team has had little production from its receiving corps other than Derrick Mason this season. Running back Ray Rice has carried the load of the teams’ rushes on the ground with 5.0 yards a carry average on the season. The Ravens secondary have had its issues giving up big passing plays as the team allows 11.1 yards a completion ranking 21st in the league.
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NFL Trend: Baltimore Ravens are 4-0 to the under in their past 4 games
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