Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Vegas Play of the Day: Pittsburgh Steelers at Baltimore Ravens

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco

Rick Osentoski / AP

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco (5) passes against the Cleveland Browns in the fourth quarter of an NFL football game in Cleveland, Sunday, Nov. 4, 2012.

It’s always nice to hit the stand-alone national television games.

I started 1-0 in Thursday Night Football contests last week. I have a feeling this won’t be the last time I’ll try to translate success from the NFL pick’em to the South Point-lined Play of the Day in an attempt to build on a starting $10,000 bankroll.

Baltimore Ravens minus-2.5 vs. Pittsburgh Steelers: $330 to win $300

Ah, this game is a perfect breeding ground for my least favorite storyline in sports. If the Ravens lose to the Steelers, it’s all because the Ray Rice saga distracted them.

If Baltimore beats Pittsburgh, it’s all because they rallied around adversity. Let’s give Rice the exact amount of respect he deserves when picking this game — none.

There are plenty of real reasons why the Ravens will win, starting with the fact that they’re desperate. If they start 0-2 with home losses to their two foremost NFC North division rivals, their playoff odds will be microscopic.

Baltimore doesn’t often lose to Pittsburgh at home, however, going 7-3 over the last 10 years. The Ravens may have failed to cover in four of the last five meetings, but every line was higher than this one against the Steelers despite the fact that the two teams are as evenly matched as ever this season.

A couple different bounces in each teams’ week 1 game and this line is probably a point higher. Cincinnati could have just as easily not converted a 73-yard game-winning prayer from Andy Dalton to A.J. Green to avert Baltimore’s comeback.

Pittsburgh’s game-winning drive against Cleveland that culminated in a 41-yard field goal from Shaun Suisham in the final seconds could have come up short, forcing overtime and the completion of its collapse. Because of the over-emphasis on a couple of high-variance plays, there’s value on Baltimore.

I’ll take it.

Standings: Bern (45-35-1, $12,967), Keefer (40-43, $9,982), Brewer (35-44-3, $4,100)

Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.

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