While the Pittsburgh Steelers (4-3) suffered a tough 20-10 loss to the Jaguars last week, they still sit in a three-way tie for second place in the AFC North. They’ll look to move up in that race on Thursday when they welcome the Tennesse Titans (3-4) to Acrisure Stadium. The Titans are coming off a 28-23 win over the Falcons that featured a breakout game from rookie quarterback Will Levis.
The Steelers enter the game as 3-point favorites at DraftKings Sportsbook, while the total is set at 37.
Titans vs. Steelers, Week 9: Pick against the spread
As mentioned above, the Titans are coming off a win over the Titans where Levis shined in his NFL debut, going 19-for-29 through the air for 238 yards and four touchdowns — three of which went to DeAndre Hopkins. Levis, who was starting for Ryan Tannehill, is set to make his second start this week, though he’ll have his work cut out for him against the Steelers, who are 23-5 against rookie quarterbacks under Mike Tomlin.
The tenor of the Steelers season nearly changed in their loss to the Jaguars, as quarterback Kenny Pickett left the game in the first half with an injury that kept him out for the rest of the game, but he’ll be back for this week. He’ll jump back into a Steelers offense that’s been stuck in neutral for most of the season and is only averaging only 292 yards of offense this season.
All that being said, I like the Steelers on Thursday night. Their defense is legit, and I like Levis’ big game last week was due in large part to Atlanta’s inability to guard Hopkins on the deep ball more than Levis making things happen. I think Pickett will be able to get enough done to guide the Steelers on a scoring drive or two, but this’ll be an ugly, ugly game.