AFC Wild Card Game Preview: Baltimore Ravens vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
An AFC North rivalry will continue on Saturday, as the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers face off for the 3rd time this season, this time in the AFC Wild Card Playoff game. This game will take place from the M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore Maryland with a kickoff slated for 8:00 PM. This game can be watched on Amazon Prime TV.
The oddsmakers are feeling confident on the Baltimore Ravens here, evident by BetAnySports making the Ravens -10 point favorites with the total on the over/under being 43.5 points. Let’s take a look at both teams and release our best play for this game.
Baltimore Ravens Preview
There has to be some sort of pressure on the Baltimore Ravens, knowing the oddsmakers have listed them as 10 point favorites over their rivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers. To add to the pressure, it is a known fact that Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson, has struggled in the big games. The Ravens are downplaying the Jackson issue however numbers don’t lie and his numbers in the big games and in the postseason are rather lacking.
Jackson has just two playoff wins in five seasons with the Baltimore Ravens. This year may be different, as he has a monster backfield with Derek Henry. A good running game is a must in the postseason and now, the Ravens have one of, if not, the best rushing attacks in the NFL.
Baltimore enters the game with a record of 12-5 SU and 10-6-1 ATS. They are riding a 4 game win streak but the oddsmakers have been somewhat easy on them to end the season, facing teams like Cleveland, Houston, NY Giants and the Pittsburgh Steelers. When facing playoff teams this year, the Ravens have gone 7-3.
Pittsburgh Steelers Preview
The Pittsburgh Steelers fans must be egregiously concerned with how this team is playing heading into the postseason! They’ve lost 4 straight games and in those games, they haven’t scored more than 17 points in any of those games. Now, with that said, the teams they played are all in the postseason, or postseason quality.
They lost to the Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore Ravens, Philadelphia Eagles, all of whom are in the postseason, and in the last game, they lost to Cincinnati Bengals, who barely missed the postseason.
Against teams in the postseason this year, the Steelers have gone 4-3 so the talent is there, and knowing this is a divisional rivalry matchup being played in the postseason, we fully expect Mike Tomlin to have this Steelers team ready to go!
Handicapping and Prediction
This AFC Wild Card game is always a tough battle in the division and knowing it’s now being held in the postseason, makes it all more exciting. These games are always closely contested and knowing that BetAnySports, have listed Baltimore as double digit favorites, makes this difficult to side with Baltimore.
It’s also very hard to ignore the fact that the Pittsburgh Steelers have not only lost four straight, but the offense is lacking! With all this being said, we are taking the under. 8 of the last 10 times they have played each other, the game has gone under. We think that trend continues on Saturday!
Pick: Under 43.5 points
