Will the Steelers’ slump continue against the Ravens?
If there’s one team currently starring in memes, it’s the Steelers. A too stiff Big Ben that resembles the tower in London more than an NFL quarterback, the disastrous draw against the Lions or the many problems off the field – there are plenty of reasons.
The 16:16 against Detroit was promptly followed by two defeats in LA and Cincinnati, the latter could already be described as desolate with 10:41. There is not too much to say that they can now get back on track against the Ravens, even if they did well against them last year.
The Ravens, on the other hand, now lead the AFC North and have been at least partially convincing, even if Lamar Jackson also threw four interceptions recently. Consistency is not necessarily to be found in both teams at the moment.
Nevertheless, our prediction for Steelers vs. Ravens is that the Ravens will get a better grip on their problems and win away from home. We wouldn’t be surprised if they manage more than 30 points against these rattled Steelers – as the Chargers and Bengals have done recently.
Kickoff of the NFL Match Week 13 game is Sunday at 10:25 p.m. in Pittsburgh. It can be watched live in the RedZone on DAZN.
Pittsburgh Steelers – Statistics & current form
The Steelers started the season surprisingly well for many, but slowly their true level of performance is crystallising. And that is just mediocrity, for the strong AFC North it could even be enough for last place in the end.
Hardly any team has a tougher schedule for the last six games than Pittsburgh. Only one more team with a negative record is coming their way, and these Vikings are also on a strong upswing.
Big shakeup coming up
There is hardly a pundit left who doubts that this will be Ben Roethlisbeger’s last season in the NFL. After all, he seems to be holding the team back too much in its development. In terms of QB rating, one now looks in vain for him among the top 20.
With 88.9 points, he even ranks only 22nd – behind Tagovailoa, Heinicke or the much-maligned Mayfield. His completion percentage of 64.6% doesn’t look too bad, but the question is where he throws all those passes.
Most of them go just 1-2 yards behind or in front of the line of scrimmage. If he didn’t have one or two capable receivers on the team like Johnson or Claypool, his stats would look a lot worse.
Matchup doesn’t suit Pittsburgh
Sunday’s matchup doesn’t sit well with either Big Ben or the Steelers, as the Ravens are the second-best running team at 150.7 rushing yards per game. Pittsburgh, on the other hand, ranks in the bottom five in the NFL with 133.1 yards allowed per game against the run.
So it could well happen that the Steelers get run over again, as they have been by the Lions, Chargers or Bengals before. For Pittsburgh vs. Baltimore, a tip against the Steelers is therefore clearly to be favoured, although they could also concede numerous points again.
Key Players:
QB: Ben Roethlisberger
RB: Najee Harris
WR: Chase Claypool
TE: Pat Freiermuth
K: Chris Boswell
Baltimore Ravens – Statistics & current form
Baltimore now even leads the entire AFC – who would have thought that? But they don’t really know how they managed to do that, as they are playing a rather mixed season. But they are extremely good in the close games.
Even four interceptions by Lamar Jackson were made up for by their defence and were ultimately enough to win the game. This has not happened all that often in the NFL, to win a game despite four interceptions.
Ravens with nerves of steel like hardly any other team
One of the reasons the Ravens have such a good record this season is that they have almost always won one-score games. Six of their eight wins so far have come within one score, and twice they’ve even won after overtime.
Among them were also very lucky victories like against the Lions or the Vikings. Nevertheless, these nerves of steel could become important in the playoffs. Since there is no Uber team in the AFC, anything is possible in the postseason – even for Baltimore.
Ravens defense on the rise
After being mercilessly torn apart in a 17-41 home loss in Week 7, the Ravens and especially their defense steadily improved after that. 31, 22, 13, 10 were the counterpoint numbers that followed, in exactly that order.
That they now allow under ten points against Pittsburgh is not realistic, but it is definitely a big advantage over the Steelers, who last had to swallow 41 points twice in a row. So for Steelers vs Ravens, the odds on Baltimore are clearly recommended.
Key Players:
QB: Lamar Jackson
RB: Devonta Freeman
WR: Marquise Brown
WR: Mark Andrews
K: Justin Tucker
Pittsburgh Steelers – Baltimore Ravens Head-to-head comparison / H2H record
The Steelers were still too big for the Ravens last year. However, Pittsburgh also started the season with 11-0 wins before the slump came. Pittsburgh 2021 can only be compared to the team from the previous year to a limited extent.
Therefore, we tend to base our bets on the current form of the Ravens, which is clearly better than that of the Steelers. While Baltimore won its last two games, Pittsburgh lost both.
Thus, a bet on Baltimore is to be favoured for Steelers against Ravens. However, since they often win their games only by a narrow margin, we would prefer to bet on a combination with over-points instead of a handicap. With 44, the bookmakers have set extremely few over-points there.
Pittsburgh Steelers – Baltimore Ravens Tip
The Ravens’ big strength is their running game. The Steelers’ great weakness is their defense against the run. We already notice that this equation works out much better for Baltimore than it does for Pittsburgh.
For this reason, Steelers vs Ravens odds are more bettable on the away team. For the greatest possible value, we combine win bets on Baltimore with a bet on over 44 total points. This number should be clearly surpassed.
Alternatively, betting odds on Over Points are also an option between the Steelers and the Ravens. The Steelers’ defence has had to swallow 41 points in each of their past two games, resulting in totals beyond 50 points. The 44-45 points set for Sunday should be easily reached.
