The Pittsburgh Steelers (10-7) and Baltimore Ravens (12-5) will face off in the NFL Wild Card Round. Kickoff is set for 8:00 p.m. EST on Saturday from M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. The game will be broadcast live on Amazon Prime Video.
The Ravens are favored by 10 points with the game total set at 43.5 points scored. The Ravens are -525 favorites to win outright, while the Steelers are +390 to pull off the upset.
Russell Wilson and the Steelers have lost four straight heading into the postseason, including scoring just 17 points against the lowly Bengals defense in Week 18. Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren haven't gotten going on the ground and George Pickens had just 1 catch for 0 yards against Cincinnati. Pittsburgh's offense will certainly have to turn it around against an elite Ravens defense. Meanwhile for Baltimore, Lamar Jackson, Derrick Henry, and company have looked borderline unstoppable. Although WR Zay Flowers has been ruled out for Saturday's game with a knee injury.
Let's get into my Ravens vs Steelers predictions and NFL picks.
Steelers vs. Ravens Odds, Pick, Prediction
| Steelers Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+10 -115 | 43.5 -110o / -110u | +390 |
| Ravens Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-10 -105 | 43.5 -110o / -110u | -525 |
- Steelers vs. Ravens spread: Ravens -10 (-105)
- Steelers vs. Ravens over/under: 43.5 (-110o / -110u)
- Steelers vs. Ravens moneyline: Ravens -525, Steelers +390
- Steelers vs. Ravens best bet: Under 43.5
MySteelers vs. Ravens best bet is on Pittsburgh. For all of your NFL bets, be sure to find the best lines by using our live NFL odds page.
Spread
If you forced me to make a pick, it'd be Ravens -10. However, I won't be betting the spread with Zay Flowers ruled out for Baltimore.
Moneyline
I have no play on the moneyline.
Over/Under
I was able to bet the under at 44, but I still like it at 43.5 since it's above the key number of 43.
My Pick: Under 43.5
Steelers vs. Ravens NFL Wild Card Round Preview
This total has gone down a bit since open, but I’m still fine with 43.5. It was 44 last week, but anything above 43 is fine with me since that’s a key number.
This is the third matchup between these teams this season. The first one was a low-scoring battle that the Steelers won without scoring a touchdown, then it was a 34-17 Ravens win in Baltimore the second time around.
This matchup in the playoffs swings toward a low-scoring game.
Zay Flowers has already been ruled out due to a knee injury he suffered in Week 18. The second-year receiver leads the Ravens by a noteworthy margin in first-read throws from Lamar Jackson, so having to adjust for missing your go-to guy in the playoffs will be tough.
Flowers' absence will reduce the Ravens’ explosiveness in the passing game, and it will make the Steelers’ impressive pass rush even more important. Pittsburgh has defended Jackson well throughout his career with T.J. Watt and Cameron Heyward up front; I expect the Steelers' front seven to make Jackson uncomfortable.
The Ravens defense, meanwhile, has been trending up over the second half of the season. The key has been how they’ve deployed safety Kyle Hamilton. Instead of moving him around the field a lot, he’s been kept primarily at safety, which has the Baltimore defense playing much better than it did in the first half of the season.
I don’t see how the Steelers are going to have success offensively against this version of the Ravens defense. Baltimore plays a lot of single-high-safety coverage — Russell Wilson is 27th in success rate against that coverage. He has a high yards-per-attempt average, which indicates he’s boom or bust.
The Steelers have no offensive consistency right now. George Pickens, notably, hasn’t made much of an impact since returning from injury.
Pittsburgh only put up 17 points against a subpar Bengals defense to end the season, which doesn’t inspire confidence. The Steelers only had 193 yards of offense, which doesn’t bode well for a matchup that takes them on the road against a much, much better defensive unit.
The pick on the spread here is on Baltimore, but I don’t love that with Flowers sidelined. Instead, I’ll go for the under.
My Pick: Under 43.5
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