RADIO
A game that was supposed to be played on Thanksgiving night, last Thursday, is set to go on Wednesday afternoon with the shorthanded Baltimore Ravens traveling to Pittsburgh to take on the Steelers. As long as they finally kick off there will be chances to play props and win with Monkey Knife Fight.
The Ravens are reeling. They are 6-4 on the season but have lost three of the past four games, including a 28-24 home loss to the Steelers in Week 8. Not only that but a week full of positive Covid-19 tests leaves the Ravens with a depleted lineup. They may have their full complement of running backs, if Mark Ingram and J.K. Dobbins are good to go but it does appear that quarterback Lamar Jackson will miss the game and that’s obviously not ideal for Baltimore.
On the other hand, the Steelers just keep cruising along, running up a league-leading 10-0 record. They have had close wins and they have had blowouts but when you win every week that scoring differential can accumulate and the Steelers lead the NFL with a +124 score differential.
Normally, this would be a tight matchup, and it could be still, but the Ravens do appear to be fighting uphill in this moving and shaking Week 12 matchup.
Here are some prop angles to consider for the Wednesday afternoon NFL action on Monkey Knife Fight:
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BALTIMORE-PITTSBURGH
MORE OR LESS
Ben Roethlisberger MORE THAN 268.5 PASSING YARDS
Big Ben hasn’t had to throw so much this season. Such is life when your team is still running undefeated. Even so, Roethlisberger is averaging 253.4 passing yards per game and goes against a Ravens Defense that has allowed four opponents to throw for at least 269 yards in a game this season.
Robert Griffin III MORE THAN 170.5 PASSING YARDS
RGIII does not have a grand track record in recent seasons. Since 2018, he has passed for 255 yards on 46 attempts. That’s it. But the Steelers have allowed more than 170 yards passing in eight of 10 games this season, giving up an average of 203.5 passing yards per game, 5.8 net yards per pass attempt. It’s a function of having the lead most of the time and if the Steelers have the lead, Griffin should throw it enough to come up with more than 170 yards.
Benny Snell MORE THAN 59.5 RUSHING YARDS
The Steelers do have some challenges in the backfield. James Conner has Covid-19, Jaylen Samuels is injured, and Trey Edmunds is on IR. That leaves Snell and rookie Anthony McFarland to run the ball against the Ravens. Snell is the preferred choice and even though the Ravens did hold Conner in check in Week 8, they have given up at least 100 yards to a single running back in three of the past four games and are allowing opponents to run at a 4.6 yards per carry clip. Snell has had six games in his career in which he has had double digit carries and has run for more than 60 yards in five of those contests.
JuJu Smith-Schuster MORE THAN 4.5 RECEPTIONS
Smith-Schuster had just four receptions on five targets in a blowout win against Jacksonville in Week 11 but put up 31 catches on 42 targets in the previous four weeks, which included seven catches against the Ravens in Week 8. Surely, he can pick up five more this week.
Chase Claypool MORE THAN 55.5 RECEIVING YARDS
The Steelers rookie receiver has had more than 55 receiving yards in three straight games and six of 10 games overall this season. It might not be easy, since he is the third option in the Steelers’ passing game but it’s an achievable objective.
RAPID FIRE
JuJu Smith-Schuster +1.5 receptions vs. Diontae Johnson
Johnson has hit a high point with back-to-back games with more than 100 receiving yards and has double-digit targets in four of the past five games, leading to 34 catches. Smith-Schuster did only have four receptions on five targets in Week 11, but has 5.8 receptions per game this season, which is better than Johnson’s average of 5.4 per game, even after Johnson had a dozen catches in Week 11. The overall body of work makes Smith-Schuster a lively underdog.
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