Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers: 12/2/20 NFL Picks and Prediction

The Baltimore Ravens will travel to Heinz Field to take on the Pittsburgh Steelers this Sunday night in NFL action.

The Baltimore Ravens lost their 2nd straight game and dropped to 6-4 on the season after being defeated by the Tennessee Titans, 30-24 in OT, this past Sunday. Baltimore was able to OT after a Justin Tucker 29-yard FG with just :15 seconds left in the 4th quarter, however, the Ravens had no answers for Derrick Henry in OT and allowed Tennessee to pick up the victory after a Henry 29-yard TD run. Baltimore was outgained by Tennessee by a 423-306 margin and committed one turnover in the loss. Leading the way for the Ravens was TE Mark Andrews who had 5 receptions for 96 yards & 1 TD.

On the season, Baltimore is averaging 26.8 ppg on 357.7 total yards per game (197.2 passing yds/g; 160.5 rushing yds/g). Offensively, Baltimore has been led by QB Lamar Jackson who has completed 63.4% of his passes for 1,948 yards (252.3 yds/g), 15 TD, & 6 INT. Jackson is also the leading rusher for the Ravens as he has 575 rushing yards & 3 TD’s on 103 carries. The top receiving targets for the Ravens have been Mark Andrews (38 rec, 454 yards, 6 TD), Marquise Brown (32 rec, 431 yards, 2 TD), and Willie Snead IV (28 rec, 379 yards, 3 TD). Baltimore has used a backfield by committee approach however, rookie J.K. Dobbins (72 att, 380 yards, 3 TD) got the majority of the carries against Tennessee over Gus Edwards (85 att, 376 yards, 3 TD) and Mark Ingram II (57 att, 232 yards, 2 TD).

Defensively, Baltimore is holding their opponents to an average of 19.5 ppg on 353.6 total yards per game (237.6 passing yds/g; 116.0 rushing yds/g).

The Pittsburgh Steelers stayed perfect on the season, improving to 10-0 on the season, after defeating the Jacksonville Jaguars, 27-3, this past Sunday. Pittsburgh was outstanding defensively, picking off Jake Luton four times, and had no trouble picking up the victory after going into halftime with a 17-3 lead. Pittsburgh outgained Jacksonville by a 373-206 margin and won the turnover battle by a 4-1 margin in the victory. Leading the way for the Steelers was WR Diontae Johnson who had 12 receptions for 111 yards.

On the season, Pittsburgh is averaging 29.8 ppg on 356.6 total yards per game (254.3 passing yds/g; 102.2 rushing yds/g). Offensively, Pittsburgh has been led by QB Ben Roethlisberger who has completed 67.1% of his passes for 2,534 yards (254.8 passing yds/g), 24 TD, & 5 INT. The top receiving threats for Roethlisberger and the Steelers have been Chase Claypool (39 rec, 559 yards, 8 TD), Diontae Johnson (49 rec, 537 yards, 4 TD), JuJu Smith-Schuster (58 rec, 535 yards, 5 TD), and Eric Ebron (35 rec, 359 yards, 4 TD). Leading the way for the Pittsburgh Steelers backfield has been James Conner who has 645 rushing yards & 5 TD’s on 145 carries.

Defensively, Pittsburgh is holding their opponents to an average of 17.4 ppg on 332.9 total yards per game (229.5 passing yds/g; 103.4 rushing yds/g).

The Ravens are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games, however, are 4-0-2 ATS in their last 6 games when playing on the road against Pittsburgh. The Steelers are 7-1 ATS in their last 8 games while the total has gone over in 4 of their 6 games vs. Baltimore.

Pittsburgh comes into this game with a ton of momentum, which including a victory against Baltimore on the road earlier this season, however, I’m not completely confident in this Steelers team who outside of the Ravens and Titans, have faced teams that currently have a combined record of just 26-52-2. Baltimore has struggled as of late, however, this is an more important game for the Ravens and as I think Lamar Jackson & J.K. Dobbins will be able to have some success on the offensive side of the ball, I think the play here is to take Baltimore and the points. Good Luck!