Thursday Betting Preview: Navigating through the distractions

The Baltimore Ravens, continuing their stranglehold on the nation's attention, host Thursday night's standalone game in front of a national audience. In town to try to take them down are the AFC North rival Pittsburgh Steelers. 

The Ravens are coming off a rare home loss, while the Steelers put together a rather uninspiring opening win in which they gave away a 24-point lead before gutting out a victory.

More NFL Betting Resources

Opening Line Report | Staff Picks
Week 1 Betting Preview (Friday)
Game Day Betting Update (Sunday)
MNF Preview (Monday)

Pittsburgh Steelers at Baltimore Ravens

Spread: Ravens -2.5
Total: 44

Analysis: The Ravens get a division rival on a short week in which they've been the center of the national spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

A tough spot, no doubt, and the Ravens' coaching staff will have faced a stiff test in keeping their players' attentions on football leading up to kickoff. The team could potentially respond by rallying together and playing a good game, or they could fall flat on their faces.

A lot of that will be dictated by the Ravens' running game. Running back Bernard Pierce likely gets first crack again, but if he's slow out of the gate again, Justin Forsett and Lorenzo Taliaferro are waiting in the wings.

The Steelers' offense was buoyed by its standouts in Week 1, as quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, running back Le'Veon Bell, and wide receiver Antonio Brown each finished with impressive numbers.

Roethlisberger has thrown for 1,784 yards in Thursday night games since 2009, more than any other quarterback. 

For those that can get in at the key number on the Steelers, that's probably the way to go, but anything short of that and it's a night to be rooting for points.

Prediction: Steelers 27, Ravens 24

The Play: Over 44

The Trend: The over is 5-2 in the last seven meetings.

Odds courtesy Scoresandodds.com. Trends courtesy Covers.