The Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers face off Thursday night on Thanksgiving with kick-off at 8:20 ET.
When Baltimore faces Pittsbugh on Thursday night, they’ll do so as the #8 seed in the loaded AFC. That puts them on the outside looking in as far as the playoff picture goes, something few folks expected to be the case at this point. Who on earth thought that the Steelers would open the season with a 10-0 record?
The Ravens have suffered surprising defeats in recent weeks at the hands of the New England Patriots and Tennessee Titans. They showed that nothing has changed since playing Tennessee in the AFC Divisional round last year and paid dearly for their overtime defeat in which they blew a lead late. They will look to avoid a season sweep against the Steelers by winning here.
The Steelers have been a perfect football team this year. They have perhaps the best receiving core in the NFL, something none of us expected to see coming into the year. Between Chase Claypool, JuJu Smith-Schuster, and Diontae Johnson, they’ve got receptions for days. And Eric Ebron has done a nice job from the tight end spot. It’s great to have Big Ben back in the lineup.
ODDS:
The spread for Thursday’s game has the home Steelers favored by 4.5 points. The over/under is set at 44.5.
Ravens Look for Miracle
Another loss would drop the Ravens to 6-5 on the year, something none of us would have expected to be possible before the year. They went 14-2 during Lamar Jackson’s first full year as the starter. And now, it just seems that other teams have been able to figure out their offense.
Lamar’s threat of running the ball has not been there every week, and shockingly, their best receiver has been Willie Snead IV. Not that Snead hasn’t been great, but it shows that all of their other options have been failing to produce. This week, the offense is also down two of the top three RB’s thanks to positive COVID-19 tests.
Gus Edwards will hold down the RB spot, with Justice Hill filling in occasionally. Can they figure out the impossible Steelers?
Pitt Aiming for 11-0
The Steelers basically have the AFC North locked up already, pending the Browns going 6-0 the rest of the way. They have the best defense in the league, and it seems that the absence of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger a year ago is the only thing that stopped them from being a winner.
They have got so many great pass-catchers, all of them coming through big every single week. The Steelers have had some magical seasons under Mike Tomlin. But 2020 might be their best work to date. Given that they had to have their bye week a few weeks early after some COVID issues in Tennessee, the work they have been able to do is incredible.
Their secondary is clearly tops in the league, and the team doesn’t have a flaw. Not even one. They’ll hope for a Turkey Day victory.
Steelers Keep It Rolling
Not a good time to be a Ravens fan, they’ll fall to 6-5 with this defeat.
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