Does the Pack Stand a Chance against Pittsburgh?

Published on 26-Nov-2017 by Sportbet Staff

Football - NFL    NFL Daily Stake

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Does the Pack Stand a Chance against Pittsburgh?

Without Aaron Rodgers, the Green Bay Packers are basically in deep doo doo.

On the flip side, Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers are hot.

Dudes are looking more and more like a solid Super Bowl contender.

In fact, it's accurate to say they're entering this Week 12 matchup on fire.

Note that the Week 12 NFL betting line now favors the hometown Steelers by 14 over the Packers. The over/under is still at 43.

sportbet steelers vs packers

This looks like an obvious play, but lurking in the shadows is the late Bert Bell's famous warning about any given Sunday. Everyone thinks Pete Rozelle originated that quote, but he just popularized it.

The Steelers are a double-digit home favorite. The bookmakers have clearly set this as an interesting pain point.

Bet on Green Bay +14 because …

Dunno. Pick a reason. Too much to drink last night? Tempting fate? Shooting the moon?

For the third time in four games, the Packers played without Aaron Rodgers. Backup QB Brett Hundley regressed in a big way in last week’s 23-0 shutout loss against Baltimore, while the Pack never came close to covering the spread as a 2.5-point home dog.

Hundley tossed three interceptions and was sacked a whopping six times while Green Bay was held to just 75 rushing yards in the loss.

On the season, Hundley has been mostly horrific. His stats are at two touchdown passes and seven interceptions since taking over for the injured Rodgers.

Bet on Pittsburgh -14 because …

On the flip side, the Steelers looked fantastic in their 40-17 blowout of Tennessee this past weekend.

Ben Roethlisberger posted 299 yards with four TD passes while hooking up with Pro Bowl wide receiver Antonio Brown 10 times for 144 yards and three scores.

Pittsburgh’s defense picked off Titans slinger Marcus Mariota four times and sacked him five times in the win.

So ...

For me, this Week 12 pick is a retirement fund padder, seeing as how Hundley clearly doesn’t have what it takes to be an NFL-caliber kinda chucker yet and will be going up against a Steelers team that's simply better on both sides of the ball.

Plus, the weather conditions are normal.

Here's our ATS pick ...

The Packers are:

  • an uninspiring 2-6 ATS in their last eight games following a straight-up loss,
  • 3-9 ATS in their last 12 games in November, and
  • 1-4 ATS in their last five games overall.

Conversely, the Steelers are:

  • 4-1-1 ATS in their last six home games, and
  • a near-perfect 4-1 ATS in their last five games overall.

The Packers should just pack it in right now and try to lose as many games as possible so they can get a high draft pick.

Pittsburgh wins and covers the chalk as two-touchdown favorites.

ATS Pick: Pittsburgh -14

Bet at 5dimes

Result: Pittsburgh 31 Green Bay 28 ... Packers cover

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Sportbet Columnist: Josh Bailey

Aspiring to become the Mark Twain of sports writing, Josh has been labelled as the up-&-coming sports writer of the year by absolutely nobody and the new heavy hitter in sports handicapping by his mother.