Pittsburgh Steelers (1-1, 0-2 ATS) @ Carolina Panthers (2-0, 2-0 ATS)
*ATS= against the spread
BETDAQ Line: Carolina -3.5 (41.5)
Significant Injuries
Pittsburgh: G Ramon Foster (questionable– ankle), RB Dri Archer (doubtful– ankle)
Carolina: WR Jerricho Cotchery (questionable– thigh), WR Jason Avant (questionable– thigh), RB DeAngelo Williams (questionable– thigh), RB Fozzy Whittaker (doubtful– thigh) **[not a misprint, all listed as having thigh injuries]
Recent Trends
Pittsburgh is 6-2 ATS in their last 8 road games vs. a team with a winning record
Pittsburgh is 5-16 ATS in their last 21 September games
Pittsburgh is 5-0 ATS in the last 5 meetings between these 2 teams
Carolina is 7-1-1 ATS in their last 9 home games
The OVER is 4-1 in Pittsburgh’s last 5 games following a loss
The UNDER is 6-1 in Carolina’s last 7 home games
The UNDER is 11-1 in Carolina’s last 12 games overall
Three reasons to back Pittsburgh
1. The Steelers generally play well on the road against good teams, covering in 6 of their last 8 road games against teams with winning records. They’re undervalued in this spot because of a bad Week 2 loss to Baltimore, a loss that they’ve had 10 days to recover from.
2. Carolina just isn’t very good offensively. Their quarterback, Cam Newton, struggles at times as a pocket passer and his receiving corps this season is entirely new to him, as not a single receiver from the 2013 roster was retained. The Panthers currently rank 24th in total offense.
3. The Carolina defense is great in the front seven but untested in the secondary, and Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger leads a pass-first Pittsburgh offense that should be able to exploit any holes the Panthers may have in the defensive backfield.
Three reasons to back Carolina
1. The Steelers are really struggling on defense, especially against the run, where they currently rank 28th after surrendering 174 rushing yards per game over the last two weeks. The strength of the Carolina offense, of course, is their running game.
2. The Panthers have one of the NFL’s very best defenses, a unit that is currently ranked 5th in yards allowed and 2nd in points allowed. Last week they smothered the high-scoring Detroit offense, limiting the Lions to 7 points. The Pittsburgh offense, meanwhile, produced just 6 points in Week 2.
3. The Panthers are chronically undervalued, especially at home, where they’re 7-1-1 against the number in their last 9 games. The Steelers, on the other hand, are overvalued, which is why they’ve yet to cover this season despite winning in Week 1.
Prediction
