The second half of the double header of action in the NFL 2024 season on Saturday evening takes us to the AFC North for the biggest match of the campaign so far in that division as the Baltimore Ravens host their rivals Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Ravens will secure their postseason spot with a win here and would move level on record with the Steelers and have a two week shootout to try and top the division. A win for the Steelers would secure the division and the home game in the playoffs. Matches between these two are never tame but this carries plenty of importance.
Baltimore Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens have had an air of being very good or very poor about them this season and now we are entering the stage of the season where things have been known to go west for them so it will be interesting to see what they have to offer in this match. We know that Baltimore will be up for this match because this rivalry game takes care of itself in that regard but we might well get to see just how strong Super Bowl contenders they are here.
The Ravens have generally overpowered teams on offense this season but whether they can do that against a very respectable defence remains to be seen. If they can’t then they could be in a spot of bother here because their offensive power has certainly come at the detriment of their defence which isn’t as good as in previous seasons. We can expect that defence to play above itself given the opposition but that still doesn’t guarantee it will get the job done.
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Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers have led the way in the AFC North for pretty much the entire season but now they are at a bit of a crossroads. They can either win the division here should they come out on top or they are going to set up a nervy couple of weeks should they fail to get the job done and leave the door open for the Ravens to burst straight through. This match will also give us a feeling of whether the Steelers can go deep in the playoffs, which nobody is really talking about, or whether they are just a good team.
The one good thing about the Steelers is that they have a decent defence. There is still some truth in that adage that defences win championships and on those grounds Pittsburgh should be dangerous come January but if there is a concern it would certainly be whether their offense can hold up. The Steelers have lost two of their last four so they might just be weakening at the wrong time. They did get the job done in the reverse meeting between these two though.
Betting
Matches between these two are usually extremely hard-fought and tough affairs and any points that do come have to be earned very hard and are generally at a premium. That was the case earlier in the season when Pittsburgh won 18-16 and I’m not convinced there has been enough since then to suggest that a 45.5 point line will be in danger here. That is even more the case when we consider that George Pickens remains out for Pittsburgh and without him in the last two weeks the offense has really struggled.
Baltimore have a strong offense but it found little in the way of joy against this tough as teak Pittsburgh defence in the reverse meeting and this line hasn’t been covered in any of the last eight meetings between the two. This is going to be competitive and there is going to be a lot of running the ball and potentially field goal attempts which will keep the scoring low. Throw in the magnitude of the contest and the all on the line nature of it and I don’t see us getting to 46 points here.
Tips
Back Under 45.5pts for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Boylesports
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