Ravens vs. Steelers Line: Up a Point
The Ravens vs. Steelers line moved up from Pittsburgh -5 to -6 at most online sportsbooks heading into Tuesday morning. A handful of books had the line at -5 ½. Early trending had the betting action practically even unlike the NFC Championship game where the Philadelphia Eagles were getting around 75 percent of the action.
Moneyline betting on the Ravens vs. Steelers game was a different story. Approximately 70 percent of gamblers believed that Baltimore could win outright with a payout of $200 for every $100 bet at Super Book. The Over on this game - 34 points - was getting just shy of 75 percent of the betting action heading into Tuesday.
"There is still plenty of time to bet on this one and there is going to be a ton of wagering by the time this game starts," points out Don Shapiro of Gambling911.com. "The action is likely to tighten up more as opposed to becoming lopsided."
Currently, at little better than 55 percent of the action was going Baltimore's way.
The Steelers were the only team with home field advantage to win this past weekend.
The Steelers, owners of the NFL's best home-field record since the 1970 NFL merger, shook off a 7-0 deficit barely two minutes into the game, controlled pint-sized playmaker Darren Sproles and returned some normalcy to the postseason by beating the San Diego Chargers 35-24 in an AFC divisional game Sunday.
With a now-healthy Willie Parker running for 146 yards and two touchdowns, Ben Roethlisberger ignoring his late-season concussion to throw for a score and lead an efficient offense, the Steelers did what the favored Titans, Panthers and Giants couldn't do by winning at home. It was the first time since 1971 that three road teams won during a single playoff weekend, and the Steelers made certain that road teams didn't go 4-for-4.
"We talked about that, all the home teams -- the No. 1 and 2 seeds -- weren't playing as well," said Santonio Holmes, who got Pittsburgh going with a 67-yard punt return touchdown in the first quarter. "But we knew the road to the Super Bowl can run through Pittsburgh when we saw Baltimore won (at Tennessee). It was time to turn it on."
Baltimore survived 13-10 on Saturday against the Tennessee Titans thanks to Matt Stover's 43-yard field goal with 53 seconds remaining.
The unflappable rookie quarterback, Joe Flacco, was certain the 40-year-old kicker would get his team into next weekend's AFC title game at either Pittsburgh or San Diego.
"I just watched on the big screen," said the first rookie quarterback to win two playoff games. "I didn't watch it live for whatever reason."
Maybe Flacco's reason was simply that he never flinches. Nor does his team, which took the wild-card route to the NFL championship in 2000 and just might do it again.
"We've been confident in ourselves all year," the first-round draft pick from Delaware said. "It seems like we've been on the road for the longest time. It doesn't matter to us. We're going to go out there and battle the crowd, battle the other team, and give it our best."
The Steelers have won 3 of the last 4 in this series, but that record is a bit deceptive. Baltimore has not lost by more than the current line of 6 in the last three games and have split the series over the last 10 games.
Something else to look out for: The Ravens are 10-2 ATS in their last 12 games following a Straight Up win.
There is also a great trend to consider for the first half of this game. Baltimore has a record of 13 wins and 2 losses ATS on a grass field in the first half of play. That first half line was listed at Ravens +3 at at Super Book..
Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter
