Week 3 of the preseason is what’s known as the ‘dress rehearsal’ and the Pittsburgh Steelers are doing everything this week in preparation for their game with the Tennessee Titans like it’s a normal week during the regular season. Things will look familiar when the team takes the field on Sunday, too, with Ben Roethlisberger in line to see his only action of the preseason. The game will take place at Nissan Stadium in Nashville and air on NBC at 8 p.m. ET. Current NFL odds favor the home team.
NFL Odds at BookMaker.eu
Pittsburgh Steelers +3
Tennessee Titans -3
Over/Under 40
Pittsburgh at Tennessee Odds Analysis
We have a typical preseason point spread with the home team Titans favored by a field goal. There’s been little movement on the line since hitting board. It’s a different story with the total, which opened at 43 and has been wagered down three-points since its posting. There was talk out of Steelers camp that first-team defenders would see plenty of action, apparently that raised some eyebrows in betting circles.
Pittsburgh Odds
Mike Tomlin has stated in the past that he’s not too concerned with the outcome of preseason games. Recent results say otherwise. The Steelers improved to 2-0 with last week’s 17-7 win over KC, making Patrick Mahomes look human in the process. Since 2017 the Steelers are 8-2 straight up and 7-2-1 ATS in exhibition games. The teams met in Week 3 of the preseason last year with the Steelers winning 16-6 covering the 3.5-point spread.
Tennessee Odds
The Titans are just another example of how meaningless the preseason is. Mike Vrabel and his bunch didn’t win an exhibition contest last year yet they won nine regular season games and were playing for the postseason on the final weekend. Unfortunately it didn’t happen and the Titans were back in the familiar place of watching the playoffs. They got the preseason monkey off their back in the opener with a win and cover against the Eagles and they are 1-5 SU and ATS under Vrabel.
Key Stats
The Titans haven’t been a big point producing team during the regular season, ranking better than 19th just one time in the previous eight seasons. That’s also been the case during the preseason, when scoring is typically lower with regulars sitting out a majority of the games. Last preseason the Titans topped out at 17 points and their output in Week 1 this year in the 27-10 win is the high water mark under Vrabel. The under is 3-0-1 in the last four preseason games and the team’s fell well below the total in last year’s exhibition contest.
Last Meeting
A look back at last year’s meeting will give us a few pointers heading into Sunday’s matchup. Big Ben is scheduled to play a series or two, like he’s done for the past few years. And he looks forward to facing live action for the first time. In last season’s cameo appearance, Roethlisberger was on the mark throwing for 114 yards and a touchdown in Pittsburgh’s 16-6 win.
Mariota played the first two games and will see action again as he works with a new offensive coordinator for the fourth time in his five seasons. Mariota capped last week’s outing with his best drive of the preseason, tossing a touchdown pass to Delanie Walker. He finished 6 of 9 for 63 yards, a much better showing than in the opener when he was just 4 of 8 for 24 yards. While the stars on offense are expected to take extra snaps, so are the regular defenders. Pittsburgh threw a blanked over the Titans last season and lineman Cameron Heyward is looking forward to a few extra reps. “I’ve got to be out there. I feel like it helps me,” he said in reference to preseason playing time.
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