By Robbie Williams

Tuesday, Dec. 1 at 8:00 PM ET

NBC

SPREAD: Steelers, -4.5

The Pittsburgh Steelers will look to stay undefeated and sweep their season series against their bitter rivals the Baltimore Ravens, who hope to keep their playoff hopes alive in a tightly contested AFC wildcard race. The last matchup between the Steelers and Ravens was a good one, as it almost always is between these historic franchises and this one is shaping up to be no different. The Ravens are coming off of a tough couple of weeks with close losses to the New England Patriots in Week 10 and the Tennessee Titans in Week 11. This game is essentially do or die for the Ravens given how close the AFC playoff race is, so expect a scrappy dog fight to ensue.

Baltimore Ravens

The Ravens are coming off a couple tough losses the past few weeks, and without a win against the Steelers on Thursday, their playoff hopes will dwindle significantly in a tightly contested AFC wildcard race. To add to the weight of this task the Ravens are dealing with a wave of positive COVID tests that have affected 5 players and 4 staffers, including running backs J.K Dobbins and Mark Ingram, as well as Middle Linebacker Pernell McPhee and Defensive Tackle Brandon Williams.

Ravens Offense

The Ravens’ offense is the least balanced in the league, ranking 1st in rushing yards and second to last in passing yards. This one dimensional offense has led to some trouble scoring for the Ravens, as they rank 12th in the league in that category. This isn’t terrible, but it shows their weakness in their inability to adapt when the run game is taken away from them. In 3 of their 4 losses, the Ravens were held to about 150 rushing yards or less, with their loss to the Steelers in Week 8 being the exception to the rule. But even in that case, their inability to pass the ball effectively hampered their attempt to win a close game. The Ravens will stand a much better chance of beating the Steelers Thursday night if they can get Lamar Jackson going through the air as well as he gets things done on the ground.

Ravens Defense

The Ravens defense is the anchor of this team and one of the best in the league. They rank 7th in the NFL in yards allowed but 3rd in points allowed behind only their rival Steelers and the Los Angeles Rams. They are also 1st in the league in fumble recoveries with 10 on the year and have a total of 15 takeaways this season. However, despite forcing so many fumbles this season the Ravens defense ranks 16th in rushing yards allowed. Despite that, the Ravens were able to hold the run-heavy Steelers to only 48 yards rushing in their last matchup, only to end up losing that game in the end.

Pittsburgh Steelers

The Steelers not only allow the fewest points of any other team in the league, but they also put up the 5th most in the league and allow the 3rd fewest turnovers of any team. They won’t let other teams score and they can run the ball down their throat or throw it over their head if that doesn’t work, and most of the time, they can do both. It is highly likely that the Steelers remain undefeated; though some close games earlier this season might say otherwise, the intangible stats they’ve demonstrated with their blue-collar mentality beg to differ.

Steelers Offense

The Steelers’ offense is led primarily by Ben Roethlisberger at QB, James Conner as the 3 down back, and JuJu Smith-Schuster as the primary receiving target. Together, with the help of up and coming rookie wideout Chase Claypool, they have been among the most efficient offenses in the league, scoring the 5th most points while only ranking 21st in total offensive yards. Big Ben only has 3 games with a passer rating below 100, throwing for 24 touchdowns, 2,534 yards, and only 5 interceptions, 3 of which came against the Tennessee Titans. He has only turned the ball over in 3 out of 10 games this season and it’s due in large part to the team’s commitment to the ground game with James Conner. The Steeler’s feature back has only 2 games this season with less than 13 carries, a total of 145 carries, 5 rushing touchdowns, and an average of 4.4 yards per carry. The Steelers’ run game gives their offense consistency and enables their pass attack to take advantage when teams sell out to stop the run. It’s a very tough combo to stop for any team, as we have seen all season long.

Steelers Defense

Historically one of the best defensive franchises in the NFL, this year has been no different for the Pittsburgh Steelers, except the absence of thousands of terrible towels waving in the stands on 3rd downs. The Steelers’ defense ranks 1st in the NFL with the fewest points allowed and 4th in total yards allowed. But even bigger than those stats for the defense are the team's takeaways. The Steelers’ defense ranks 1st in the league in producing turnovers with 6 fumble recoveries and 15 interceptions in just 10 games on the season.

The Prediction

The Ravens’ are too one dimensional on offense to win this one against the best defense in the NFL, especially with the Steelers’ having a better idea of what to expect going into their second matchup in just one month . Also the 16th ranked run defense of the Ravens might have been able to pull off a fluke against their run committed rivals a few weeks ago but look for James Connor to enact some revenge for his poor performance this time around. Even if Connor doesn’t redeem himself this time, Big Ben and his young receiving corps led by JuJu Smith-Schuster will pull out this win, though these two great defenses should prove to make this a close game.

AJ’S PREDICTION: Ravens 17 - 10

CADE’S PREDICTION: Ravens 24 - 21

ROBBIE’S PREDICTION: Steelers 24 - 17

ZACHARY’S PREDICTION: Ravens 27 - 24

SHAWN’S PREDICTION: Steelers 27 - 22

Robbie is a sports writer for La Tonique Media.