Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Tennessee Titans NFL Betting Odds

We’re eight weeks into the season, and there are a lot of teams that have yet to reveal themselves as either pretenders or contenders, and two of them will meet in the Week 9 edition of Thursday Night Football. The 4-3 Pittsburgh Steelers will host the 3-4 Tennessee Titans at Acrisure Stadium, with the home team coming in as very small favorites on the moneyline for most NFL betting sites and betting apps.

Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Tennessee Titans NFL Betting Odds - Thursday, November 2nd

The Pittsburgh Steelers and Tennessee Titans enter this game with very different moods. The Steelers are coming off one of their worst performances of the year in a 20-10 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. But the Titans come in overflowing with hope after the ideal debut performance by their rookie QB, Will Levis, in an upset win over the Atlanta Falcons. All odds provided by Sports Interaction.

The Steelers have been one of the toughest watches this season, regularly failing to get anything going offensively for three quarters before coming alive late to steal wins, which, surprisingly, they’ve done successfully more often than not so far this year. Last week’s 20-10 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, however, showed just how dire the offensive situation really is in the Steel City. 

The Titans are a bit of an enigma right now as well, especially considering we might be at the start of a new era in Nashville. Ryan Tannehill has been out with an injury, but after rookie Will Levis’ four-touchdown performance in their 28-23 win last week, this could be the start of the age of Levis.

What was even more impressive was that he was supposed to split QB duties with Malik Willis last week, but he was so good that Mike Vrabel had to make the in-game decision to move exclusively to Levis.

However, Levis couldn’t have drawn a tougher assignment for his first full NFL start. Not only is it a short week with only three days of prep time, but it’s against one of the most dynamic defenses in the league. The Steelers may give up a lot of yards, but they are solid in the red zone and their 15 takeaways are the second most in the league this year.

That last stat is the one that should really worry Titans fans, because rookie quarterbacks are more prone to mistakes that result in turnovers than anyone. And, while he is no Bill Belichick, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin has been known to dominate rookie QBs, posting a 23-4 career record against first-year signal callers. And it’s worth noting that three of those four losses came on the road.

While Derrick Henry should have a day against one of the poorest run defenses in football, he might be thwarted if Levis can’t make the Steelers respect the passing game. The Titans have allowed the seventh-most sacks this season, so T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith will be licking their chops.

If the Steelers pass rush can wreak some havoc, which they are usually capable of doing, then Pittsburgh should be able to make enough big plays on offense with Kenny Pickett expected to return to get the win here at home. Tomlin’s record against rookie QBs should not be discounted, so we’re going with Pittsburgh’s -145 moneyline here.

As for the total, you don’t get many lower than this one’s 36.5. That makes it really tough to play the under here confidently, but it really seems like the only way to go. The Steelers have hit the under in six of their seven games, and same for the Titans in five of their seven. Three of Pittsburgh’s last four games have actually gone under this total, so we’re rolling with it again here at -110 odds.

Player Props To Consider

After hitting the under on his rushing yards prop in the first three games of the season, Derrick Henry has been finding his stride of late, going over in three of his last four. In those three games he put up 122, 97, and 101 yards.

Now, he’s going up against a Steelers run defense that has shown a lot of holes this year, allowing the sixth-highest per carry average (4.5) and the sixth-most rush yards per game (137.1). While we like the Steelers to win, we don’t think they’re going to do so by completely bottling Henry up, so we like him to hit the over on his 71.5 rush yards prop at -115 odds.

We also like Diontae Johnson, who recently returned from injury and looks no worse for wear. Johnson has been getting absolutely fed over the last two weeks, compiling 20 targets and 13 receptions, including eight last week. Both Pickett and backup and possible starter Mitch Trubisky have shown confidence in Johnson in the past, so we’ll take the over on his 4.5 receptions prop at -150 odds here.