The Carolina Panthers and Pittsburgh Steelers are scorching hot heading into this Thursday Night Football game, which stands as the Week 10 main event.
Of note, the offenses have been on fire. The Panthers have scored 78 combined points in their past two games, while the Steelers are riding a near-invincible James Conner (689 scrimmage yards, seven touchdowns) to great success in their four-game win streak.
The key is how well the two offenses can attack the opposing teams’ weaknesses. The Panthers have been exposed in their defense against tight ends, as exhibited by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ O.J. Howard in his two-touchdown effort. Can the Steelers’ Vance McDonald and Jesse James take advantage?
The Steelers have a much-improved defense after a rough start, as they’ve allowed no more than 18 points in any of their last four games. However, the team ranked just 23rd in pass-defensive efficiency through eight weeks, per Football Outsiders. The Steelers had allowed the ninth-most receiving yards in the league versus No. 1 wideouts and the fourth-most yards to tight ends.
Can Panthers wide receiver Devin Funchess and tight end Greg Olsen step up in this spot? The latter player could be the key to Carolina’s success, as the 12-year veteran is on a three-game touchdown streak and has 10 catches for 132 yards in his past two games.
Olsen looks 100 percent after suffering a foot injury that forced him to miss three-plus games, and the guess is that he leads the Panthers to a close road victory.
The Pittsburgh Steelers look to build on their four-game winning streak to stay in the AFC playoff picture. The Pittsburgh Steelers have split their last four home games. Ben Roethlisberger is completing 64.5 percent of his passes for 2,560 yards, 16 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Roethlisberger has two or more touchdown passes in 13 of his last 17 games. JuJu Smith-Schuster and Antonio Brown have combined for 1,266 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns while James Conner has 38 receptions. The Pittsburgh Steelers ground game is averaging 101.6 yards per contest, and Conner leads the way with 706 yards and nine touchdowns. Defensively, Pittsburgh is allowing 23.5 points and 347.9 yards per game. Jon Bostic leads the Pittsburgh Steelers with 46 tackles, T.J. Watt has seven sacks and Cameron Sutton has one interception.
The Panthers are 5-1 ATS vs. a team with a winning record, 5-0 ATS in their last 5 games in November and 1-4 ATS in their last 5 Thursday games. The Steelers are 3-0-1 ATS in their last 4 Thursday games, 2-7 ATS in their last 9 home games and 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games overall. The Panthers are 0-6 ATS in their last 6 meetings and the over is 4-1 in the last 5 meetings.
The Carolina Panthers are quietly one of the hotter teams in the league with wins in 5 of their last 6 games, as Newton is playing turnover free football and the defense continues to rise up. The Pittsburgh Steelers have turned their season around, as Big Ben is starting to look like Big Ben and that young defense has given up no more than 21 points during this four-game winning streak. The Carolina Panthers have covered 5 of their last 8 games when an underdog of at least 3 points. The Pittsburgh Steelers have failed to cover five of their last seven games when a favorite of at least three points. We’ve made a lot of money on the Panthers so far this season, but I like them a lot more at home than I do on the road. The Carolina Panthers have lost five of their last six road games when you throw in last years playoff game against the Saints. The Pittsburgh Steelers are going to be too much here, as that offense is rolling right now.
Steelers -3.5
