Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers 2011 NFL Playoff Predictions, Odds, and Picks: Linebacker Ray Lewis will lead the hard hitting Baltimore Ravens on the road to Heinz Field to take on AFC North rival the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday afternoon at 4:30 PM ET for the divisional round of the NFL playoffs on CBS Sports with the winner going on to the AFC Championship game. The Ravens enter the game on a 5 game win streak at 12-4 2nd in the AFC North in the regular season and a wildcard win last weekend at Kansas City while the Steelers also finished at 12-4 but were 1st in the AFC North and are coming off a much needed bye week and get a home playoff game.
The two teams split the season series but Pittsburgh was without quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in the first matchup which Baltimore won by 3 with a late touchdown and in week 13 that basically decided the division winner Pittsburgh stripped quarterback Joe Flacco and scored late to win by 3 points. “For such a small margin, what a big difference that makes,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “But we kind of understand who we are. We understand our path, our road. We’re not intimidated by it at all. We’re looking forward to it. We wouldn’t have it any other way.” The odds makers at JustBET have the Pittsburgh Steelers -3 point favorites at home against the Baltimore Ravens.
The Pittsburgh Steelers are coming off a bye week but finished the season with a victory 41-9 on the road over the division rival Cleveland Browns to secure the 2nd seed in the AFC and complete the season and impressive 10-6 ATS. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger completed 15 of 22 passes for 280 yards and 2 touchdowns before giving way to Byron Leftwich with the game in hand. “As a competitor, you love it. But heck no, I hate playing the Ravens because they’re so good,” Roethlisberger said. “On defense, every single person and every scheme, everything they do, it challenges you.” Something is working for Big Ben as he has won 6 consecutive over the Ravens. Vegas odds makers have the Pittsburgh Steelers as +600 odds to win the 2011 Super Bowl.
The Ravens blew out the Kansas City Chiefs on the road 30-7 in the wildcard round of the NFL playoffs and are 8-7-1 ATS. Quarterback Joe Flacco completed 25 of 34 passes for 265 yards and 2 touchdowns while running back Ray Rice carried the ball 17 times for 57 yards. Baltimore is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games on the road and the total has gone OVER in 8 of Baltimore’s last 11 games when playing on the road against Pittsburgh. Vegas odds makers have the over/under for the total score at 37 points combined of the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers.
Note: Rich Fritz is a Blog Writer on NSAwins.com and not a pro handicapper. For expert NFL Football Predictions against the Vegas spreads please visit the NSAwins.com homepage for top predictions today from the National Sports Advisors.