Looking to avenge a loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in last year’s playoffs, the Pittsburgh Steelers head to Florida as one of the hottest teams in the NFL as they prep for this Week 11 tussle. The Steelers romped over Carolina last week and got a mini bye from that Thursday game, which is awful news for the Jags, who have lost five straight games and are on the verge of being eliminated from postseason contention one season after reaching the AFC Championship.
Watch this Week 11 regular season matchup live on Sunday, November 18, 2018, at 1 p.m. ET at TIAA Bank Field
Opening NFL Odds at BookMaker.eu
Pittsburgh Steelers -6
Jacksonville Jaguars +6
Over/Under 47.5
The Jags weren’t given much of a chance to win the AFC Divisional playoff game in Pittsburgh last season. They entered that matchup as a 7-point underdog and rode Leonard Fournette’s three touchdowns to the upset victory to get Jacksonville to the AFC title game. Fewer people are giving them a chance this weekend as the Jags opened as a 6-point home dog looking to end a five-game losing streak.
Coming off their bye and having Fournette back in the lineup, the Jags were primed to end their slide and get back in the playoff picture. The Colts had other plans. When the Jags put up 26 points they should be in a position to win, but once again their defense got raked. The point total was their highest since beating the Jets in Week 4 and more than the previous two games combined.
The return of Fournette had plenty to do with that. Playing in his first game in over a month, Fournette had 29 touches and amassed 109 yards from scrimmage with his first two touchdowns of the season. His presence was also a calming influence on Blake Bortles, who threw for 320 yards and two touchdowns on 26 of 38 passing.
The Jags amassed 415 yards of offense against the Colts but managed just two plays of 20 or more yards among their 73 total. The lack of big plays gives the offense, and particularly Bortles, more opportunities to screw things up. It wasn’t Bortles last week and he’s gone three games and 91 pass attempts without an interception. But a costly turnover ended any chance the Jags had at completing their comeback. Rashad Greene’s fumble deep in Indy territory late in the fourth quarter denied Jacksonville a chance to at least have a game-tying field goal attempt.
It’s hard to imagine the Jags breaking out of their offensive slumber against the Steelers given the way Pitt handled Cam Newton last week. But in two games last season, both in Pittsburgh, the Jags scored a total of 75 points with Fournette running wild. Fournette managed just 53 yards on 24 carries against the Colts, but now that he has legs underneath him, look for big things.
Fournette totaled 290 rushing yards in both games against the Steelers last year averaging 5.5 yards per pop with five touchdowns. He will be fed the football, especially early in the game, so watch his numbers closely and lean toward him going over his rushing yard total on a prop bet at BookMaker.eu. Fournette is also the No. 1 option around the goal line so bet on him scoring at least one touchdown.
James Conner landed in the concussion protocol after Thursday’s game and his status is unclear. That won’t prevent Ben Roethlisberger from throwing the football, though. Big Ben had a perfect passer rating in a win over the Panthers throwing for 328 yards and five touchdowns on 22 of 28 passing. The absence of Conner opens up the offense for Vance McDonald, and the Jags had problems defending Indy’s tight end Eric Ebron last week. McDonald isn’t the preferred option, but he caught all four of his targets last week with a touchdown and is in line for a bigger payout this weekend. Take the over on his receptions and yards total.
Steelers at Jaguars Live Betting
After missing out on a trip to the AFC title game last season by losing at home, the Steelers have the added motivation of extracting some revenge. And Big Ben had one of his nastier games during last regular season throwing five interceptions with a pair returned for scores. As a team the Jags are saying all the right things, but in reality their season is done. Watch for Roethlisberger and the offense to go for the jugular early and play the Steelers on the first half adjusted live betting lines because it could be ugly.
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