Ravens vs. Steelers NFL injury report, odds: Historic spread in heated rivalry; TJ Watt not expected to play
The Ravens are favored at the Steelers on Sunday, which in one aspect has never happened before.
The Baltimore Ravens have been favored four times in their history at the Pittsburgh Steelers and are -4.5 at Caesars Sportsbook for Sunday's game at Heinz Field, but there's a big difference this time: The Ravens had never been favored in Steel Town when Ben Roethlisberger was going to start under center, and Big Ben will Sunday. The Steelers will most likely be without Defensive Player of the Year candidate TJ Watt. Click here for model picks.
Pittsburgh is 0-4 straight up and 0-1-3 against the spread as a home underdog against Baltimore – all four games had a spread of Ravens -3 and the past three ended in three-point Ravens victories, most recently in 2019. The Pittsburgh quarterbacks in those four games were: Kent Graham, current Bucs offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich (2012), way-past-his-prime Michael Vick (2015) and current backup Mason Rudolph (2019). No wonder the Ravens were favored and won all four.
There will be a bit of coaching history here as well between the Ravens' John Harbaugh and Steelers' Mike Tomlin, two of the NFL's longest-tenured coaches. It's the 30th meeting, including playoffs, between them, only the third duo to reach 30. George Halas and Curly Lambeau matched up 49 times and Steve Owen and Lambeau 31. All three of those guys are in the Hall of Fame as likely will be Harbaugh and Tomlin down the line. Tomlin leads 15-14. Neither coach has won more than four in a row.
Pittsburgh has never finished with a losing record under Tomlin but that's looking very possible at 5-5-1 and with games at Minnesota, vs. Tennessee, at Kansas City, vs. Cleveland and at Baltimore still remaining. The Steelers sit 12th in the AFC and are +550 long shots to make the playoffs and -900 to miss.
Watt landed in COVID protocols earlier this week and it's almost unprecedented in the NFL for a guy to land on that list and play in the same week. An obvious crushing loss as Watt has 12.5 sacks, four passes defensed, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries in nine games. Fellow linebacker Robert Spillane also landed on the COVID list.
The last thing Pittsburgh needs is losses on defense as it has allowed at least 40 points in in back-to-back games for the first time since 1989. Prior to Week 11, the Steelers had gone 40 straight games without even allowing 30, the longest such streak since the 1992-95 Browns.
If Baltimore wins out, it would be the AFC's No. 1 seed and is a +200 favorite to earn it and the lone first-round bye. The Ravens should get back defensive end Calais Campbell from concussion protocol. He leads the team's defensive linemen in tackles (36) and quarterback hits (nine).
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