A handful of days ago, the Pittsburgh Steelers would have been easy favorites on Thursday Night Football over the Baltimore Ravens. In fact, early point spreads indicated and that the men in black and gold were going to be laying around 4.5-5 points. Now that Ben Roethlisberger is out for the fold though, the Ravens are actually giving 2.5 on the road in the Steel City.
The fact that Roethlisberger is out opens the door for Michael Vick to make his first start as a member of the Steelers. Most believed that Vick's NFL career was over last year when the Jets turned the ball over to Geno Smith, but now, all of a sudden, the argument could be made that not only will Vick lead the Steelers to victory, but he could outduel Joe Flacco when it comes to fantasy points at BookMaker Sportsbook as well.
Most believe that we are going to see a heavier dose of Le'Veon Bell with Roethlisberger out of the lineup, but we aren't so sure that's the case. The Steelers aren't stupid, and they know that without Maurkice Pouncey in there, their offensive line is a joke and a half. They aren't going to be able to get Bell and perhaps DeAngelo Williams going all that much against a Baltimore front seven which might be even harder to run against now that Terrell Suggs is out with a torn Achilles' tendon.
So throw the ball Vick will, and we'll see what he is able to do with it.
Antonio Brown is still one of the most dangerous receivers in the game, and with Vick's cannon of an arm, he isn't going to overthrow speedsters like Darrius Heyward-Bey and Markus Wheaton.
It's a little easier to forecast Flacco's future in this game since he has some actual data to work with.
Flacco is only averaging 18.2 fantasy points per game, which is nothing by quarterback standards at BookMaker. He hasn't really had that one elite level game in which he exploded as we know that he is capable of, and that's really why the Ravens are 0-3. That said, Flacco did turn it loose last week against the Bengals in the second half after a dismal first half showing. Steve Smith Sr. was all of a sudden a massive threat on the outside, and though he is at the end of his career, we suspect that he will have a big game for the second straight week after calling out his defense in public.
We know that Flacco has this in him. He averaged 20.6 fantasy points per game last year, including posting a couple 40+ point efforts in games. Last season against the Steelers in three games, he put up 24.1 points, 23.7 points and 22.0 points, remarkably consistent numbers.
It also helps Flacco that these games are virtually always close. He seems to get better as the competition and the degree of difficulty goes up, and there isn't a team in the NFL which will challenge him quite like the Steelers surely will.
If Vick is going to be getting too many fantasy points in our head to head props though, we wouldn't be afraid to take them and hope for the best. Rushing yards are worth significantly more than passing yards are, and if Vick can match Flacco's total touchdowns in this game as we suspect that he can, we'd bet that the final tally between these two for our fantasy purposes is within a few points one way or the other.
BookMaker opened the spread for this Thursday soiree at -2.5 in favor of the Baltimore Ravens. The NFL odds total surfaced at 43.5. Minute-by-minute spreads, totals and props are available for this game using the live betting platform at BookMaker.
Load your betting bankroll from your smartphone or tablet with BookMaker’s new cashier feature! Depositing and withdrawing funds from your account has never been easier. BookMaker's live betting platform means you always have access to odds and lines to every sporting event. Click here and start wagering today! The game between the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers is scheduled for Thursday, October 1, 2015, at 8:30 p.m. ET at Heinz Field. The game will be broadcast regionally on CBS and the NFL Network.
