PITTSBURGH STEELERS @ BALTIMORE RAVENS These two are battling it out for the AFC North title, which the Steeelers will clinch with a win tonight, should the Ravens take the spoils, it will even things up at the top of the division and set up a nail biting final two weeks of the regular season.
There is very little love lost between these teams and even if there was nothing at stake, this would be an intense and full blooded encounter, but with so much on the line, this will not be for the squeamish !
Pittsburgh have the number one ranked defense in the NFL and are 5-1 on the road, Baltimore, the number two defense and a 5-1 home record. As you might have guessed, the reverse meeting was very close, with the Steelers winning 23-20 in overtime. I thought that Baltimore were very unlucky that day, they led by ten points at half time, but were hurt by penalties and the match turned on a fumble, when there looked little chance of a Steelers recovery. That knocked the suffing out of the Ravens for a while and they took time to recover, losing their next two, but they have since gone 8-1 , only losing to an on fire Giants team in nine starts. They thumped the Eagles 36-7 three weeks ago, since when, Philly have boosted the form by walloping Arizona and beating the Giants in New York.
The Steelers might have the higher ranked defense (just), but the Ravens have a much better balanced all round game and I expect them to win. They have won this fixture for the last five years, by an average of over 11 points, although two have gone to overtime. So, three recent meetings have gone the distance, I am going to bet the Ravens giving up just under a field goal and also take a minimal wager on it going into extra time again and hopefully, we can win both bets !
6.5 points Baltimore -2.5 points 1.85 general quote.
1 point match to go to overtime 10.0 Paddy Power / Ladbrokes
Good Luck.
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