Jaguars vs. Steelers Total Pick
Can the Pittsburgh Steelers get their offense back on track when they return home to face the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday at 1PM ET?
According to oddsmakers at Bovada.lv, the Steelers are favored at home in this game, as Pittsburgh is getting odds of -8 points against the Jaguars. The over/under total for the contest has been listed at 42.5 points. Pittsburgh has won three straight meetings with the Jags and the two have hit the under in their last two encounters. Sunday’s game takes place from Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and will air live on CBS.
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Pittsburgh is coming off a 26-9 win over the Ravens last week to improve to 3-1 on the season, but the Steelers have hit the under in all four games this year. Their offense is putting up just 22.5 points and 334.3 yards per game right now. Last Sunday saw Antonio Brown blow up on the sideline and lead to some interesting comments from Ben Roethlisberger. Brown is actually having a good year, as he has 30 catches for 388 yards. However, Big Ben has thrown for just 957 yards with six touchdowns and two interceptions. Le’Veon Bell had a big game last week and has 324 rushing yards with three touchdowns in 2017. Defensively, Pittsburgh has been solid this year. The Steelers are allowing only 14.8 points and 294.3 yards per game right now.
Jacksonville fell to 2-2 on the season with a surprising 23-20 OT loss to the Jets last week. The Jags are 3-1 with the over, having hit it in their last three games. The Jags have been up-and-down on defense, but are giving up just 18.5 points this season. However, their run defense is allowing 165.5 yards per game. The unit does have 18 sacks and 10 turnovers. On offense, Jacksonville averages 27.3 points and 331.8 yards per game. They have run the ball well behind Leonard Fournette, who has 285 yards and three scores. Blake Bortles is adding 732 passing yards with seven touchdowns and three interceptions.
It will be interesting to see how Pittsburgh responds this week after a week of media headlines between Brown and Big Ben. My guess, they come out firing behind the two. Pittsburgh scored 26 on a good Minnesota defense in its lone home game this year. The Jags didn’t look great on the road last week and they are a team that has hit the over in their last four after a loss. I think the Steelers put up a big number on Sunday while the Jags do enough to help hit the over.
NFL WEEK 5 PREDICTION: JAGUARS/STEELERS OVER 42.5