Oddsmakers expect another nail biter in Week 15 for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Their Heinz Field battle against the Tennessee Titans screams parity for West Virginia online sports bettors.
The 6-6-1 Steelers are receiving +2 at a price of -110 at DraftKings WV Sportsbook. Bettors can also take them straight up at +105 to win the game outright.
Caesars WV had Pittsburgh at +1.5 with the spread and +105 to win outright on Tuesday night.
That’s how close the last two Steelers games have been.
The Steelers lost and won their two previous games in the final seconds.
Against the Minnesota Vikings last Thursday, they stormed back from a 29-0 third-quarter deficit to lose by a score of only 36-28. Their final drive included a pass into the end zone that could not be completed as time expired.
Last Sunday, they held off the Baltimore Ravens 20-19 by thwarting a two-point conversion in the waning moments.
The Steelers are 4-0-1 at Heinz Field over their last five home games as they battle a Titans team that blanked the Jacksonville Jaguars 20-0 last week.
Pittsburgh Steelers Odds At WV Sportsbooks
DraftKings put up an early prop for quarterbacks Ben Roethlisberger and Ryan Tannehill to exceed 3.5 combined touchdowns. It’s +200.
Otherwise, it’s difficult to pinpoint individual stars for Tennessee on the prop board. The team has a rash of injuries.
For Pittsburgh, Diontae Johnson is always a good anytime scoring threat, but he has reverted to his past form of dropping key passes.
Keep a good eye on Pat Freiermuth wagers, too. He won’t be under the radar too much longer. He scored for the Steelers last week and was also the target of Roethlisberger’s last-play attempt into the end zone.
Freiermuth was double-teamed and couldn’t hold on. Some receivers in the league would have held that pass, but not many.
Chase “Overdue” Claypool always merits a look. He tallied four touchdowns in one game last year against the Philadelphia Eagles and nine overall. He has one this year.
Najee Is Key
Steelers running back Najee Harris continues to be Mr. Reliable for the Steelers. He delivered 104 all-purpose yards and scored twice against the Vikings.
Harris also made a difficult catch to jump-start the Steelers’ final drive. Harris and Freiermuth have been the bright spots in the Steelers’ offense.
When the props materialize, look for Harris scoring and yardage props. They will probably be right in the area of even money but will provide a fair chance.
The offense found something in the final quarter of both the Ravens and Vikings games but needs to show up in the first 45 minutes of the game.
And the defense has been porous.
The Vikings finished with 5.1 yards per rush before contact, an impossible stat to lose with. Minnesota had 36 rushes for a whopping 242 yards, nearly seven yards per play.
Pittsburgh enters this week with the worst pass rushing defense in the league.
Pittsburgh Steelers Status Update
The 6-6-1 Steelers give the impression they will be stuck in the seven-to-eight-win range, one notch below the playoffs, when the season ends.
Injury update: T.J. Watt is making progress as he tries to recover from a groin tweak that forced him to leave the Vikings game in the second quarter. The Steelers have been a weak defense without him. Monitor that situation and put it into your calculations.
Titans A Shell Of Themselves
Tennessee lost the best running back in the league, Derrick Henry, a few weeks back.
It also lost stellar wide receiver A.J. Brown.
But here are the Titans, 9-4, tied for the No. 1 AFC playoff seed.
Their mission is to win tough, blue-collar games, qualify for the playoffs and get their stars back in time for a run.
Their leading back right now is someone named D’onta Foreman. But it could be almost anybody.
The Titans’ blueprint was a 20-point triumph over the Jaguars in Week 14. Nothing fancy, and a total offense of 263 yards. But the defense made four picks on rookie quarterback Trevor Lawrence and added three sacks.
Mike Vrabel is an excellent coach, and this team will be dangerous when everyone returns.
The question is whether Pittsburgh caught Tennessee at the right time.
Caesars shows a prop that offers an interesting angle for this one.
The outcome of the first possession often appeals to bettors. Most odds have the first-possession punt as slight minus numbers, indicating this outcome as a mild favorite.
But Caesars has Tennessee at -150 and Pittsburgh at -155 to punt on their first possession. That’s a subtle expectation of a low-scoring game.
Otherwise, Tennessee is +360 to score a touchdown, +430 to try a field goal and +600 to commit a turnover the first time it has the ball.
Pittsburgh is +375 to notch a touchdown, +440 to try a field goal and +575 for a turnover.
