Football Odds Favor Pittsburgh as Ravens Come to Town

The football betting odds makers have installed the Pittsburgh Steelers as the 1 ½ point favorite to beat their most hated rivals, the Baltimore Ravens this Sunday.

The Steelers have done just fine while two-time Super Bowl winning QB Ben Roethlisberger has been on suspension.

Roethlisberger returns next week and he and the fans in Pittsburgh are hoping that he return to a 4 and 0 Steelers’ team.

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The Baltimore Ravens will be looking to hand Pittsburgh their first loss of the season. Baltimore bounced back from a stinging 10 to 15 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals as a 2 ½ point home favorite 2 weeks ago by beating the Cleveland Browns 24 to 17 in Week 3.

The Ravens were 12-point football odds online favorites in that game. So the victory didn’t exactly turn football handicappers heads. Still, 48% of football bettors believe that the Ravens will cover the spread on Sunday while 52% believe that the Steelers will cover the spread on Sunday.

Baltimore Ravens vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

Where: Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

When: Oct. 3rd, 2010 at 1:00 pm EST

TV: CBS

Radio: Sirius – 152 (BAL) 122 (PIT)

NFL Betting Lines

Baltimore Ravens +1 ½ -110 O 34 -110

Pittsburgh Steelers -1 ½ -110 U 34 -110

The NFL trends say that Pittsburgh against the spread is the football odds Sunday prediction to make.

• The Baltimore Ravens are 0-3-1 ATS in the last 4 meetings between these two teams.
• The Baltimore Ravens are 1-5 ATS versus a team with a winning record.
• The Pittsburgh Steelers are 4-0-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall.
• The Pittsburgh Steelers are 11-4-1 ATS versus a team with a winning record.

This is one of the biggest rivalries in the NFL but, surprisingly, it really hasn’t worked out like a rivalry in recent years. Pittsburgh has dominated the Ravens the last 10 times these two teams have met.

The Steelers are 9 and 1 versus the Ravens in the last 10 meetings. 2 of the 9 victories occurred in the playoffs. Although that’s been the case, the games have been incredibly close and many of those Steelers’ victories could have swung towards Baltimore’s favor.

The problem for Baltimore in the past couple of years has been the play of QB Joe Flacco at Heinz Field.

Flacco has thrown 4 picks and has posted a 59.2 passer rating at Heinz Field. He figures to be much better this Sunday because the Ravens acquired WR Anquan Boldin, who was sensational against Cleveland last week, to help spread Pittsburgh’s defense.

But even if Flacco plays better, will the Ravens win this game? Pittsburgh has been unstoppable in 2010. Their defense is flat out incredible. Pitt is +6 in turnover margin. That’s one of the reasons they have been a football odds against the spread lock so far this season.

The Steelers have forced Atlanta, Tennessee and Tampa Bay to all turn the ball over.

They’ve also found a way to win without Big Ben and that has to be taken into consideration when handicapping this game. Beating the Atlanta Falcons 15 to 9 was impressive in Week 1 as 1-point home dogs, but Pittsburgh won the game on a 50-yard scamper by Rashard Mendenhall in overtime. So, the victory over Atlanta wasn’t as clear-cut as many football fans might believe.

Then, against Tennessee, Pittsburgh simply outworked the Titans. They frustrated Titans’ QB Vince Young into throwing 2 picks and forced QB Kerry Collins, who replaced VY, into throwing another pick. Even with the turnovers, the game went down to the final Tennessee drive.

Against the Bucs, the Steelers were sensational offensively but the Bucs had just lost their starting safety, Tanard Jackson, to a yearlong suspension for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.

Things might not be as easy for Pittsburgh’s D against the Ravens on Sunday. The football expert odds makers are well aware that the Ravens’ offense is possibly the best that the Steelers have faced all season long. They know that Pitt is terrific against the run but suspect against he pass.

The Steelers allow close to 220 passing yards per game against them.

When it comes to defense, the Ravens’ D is as good as the Steelers’ D. In fact, Baltimore’s D is ranked #1 in the NFL. It gives up only 116.7 yards through the air. The Ravens’ D does allow 127.7 yards per game on the ground, but it usually shuts down Pittsburgh’s run game having allowed the Steelers’ to rush for 100 yards or more only once out of the last 10 games between these two teams.

What it all means is that this might be the one game where Big Ben on the bench could hurt the Steelers. The Ravens should be able to take advantage of the Steelers’ passing game by blitzing QB Charlie Batch and the Ravens are good at stopping the Steelers’ rush.

Although most of the stats and trends say otherwise, I’m going to make the Baltimore Ravens to cover the spread my football odds prediction for this game on Sunday.

NFL Betting Pick: Baltimore Ravens +1 ½ -110

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