The NFL is back for Week 9 of the 2023 season as the Pittsburgh Steelers play host to the Tennessee Titans at the Acrisure Stadium in this week's edition of Thursday night football.
The Steelers are currently 4-3 for the season after a mixed run and a bye in week 6, while the Titans are 3-4 after bouncing back from consecutive defeats with a win last time out following a bye in week 7.
We'll take a look at the match-up and provide you with our best free NFL betting picks to see if we can earn you some extra cash while you enjoy the action on the field.
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Pittsburgh Steelers vs Tennessee Titans information
- Thursday, 2 November 2023
- Acrisure Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- 20:15 ET kick-off
Season so far
The Steelers have had a mixed bag of results in the early weeks of the season, and it all started with a thumping defeat in week 1 at home against the San Francisco 49ers as they were well beaten 30-7.
Week 2 was better as they earned a hard-fought 26-22 win over the Cleveland Browns, before making it back-to-back wins in week 3 with a 23-18 win against the Las Vegas Raiders on the road. Then they came across the Houston Texans where they were once again well beaten, failing to score in the first, second or fourth quarter while Houston smashed 30 points past them.
Pittsburgh brushed that off in week five when they came up against the Baltimore Ravens and put in a huge fourth-quarter where they scored 14 points to come from behind and win 17-10, before they repeated that 14-point fourth-quarter in their following game against the Los Angeles Rams to earn yet another comeback win thanks to a 24-17 scoreline.
Week 8 saw them host the Jacksonville Jaguars but they couldn't keep up with their offense and lost 20-10 as they managed just one touchdown in the game, while the Jaguars outscored them in every single quarter.
Tennessee on the other hand have really struggled to build any momentum this season, failing to win consecutive games so far.
Week 1 saw them drop a 15-16 defeat to the New Orleans Saints despite trying to mount a fourth-quarter comeback as they fell short, but they bounced back in week 2 with a 27-24 overtime win over the Los Angeles Chargers, having initially let their lead slip in the fourth-quarter. Week 3 was a blowout against the Browns as they crashed to a 27-3 defeat in Ohio, before the exact same scoreline in week 4 saw them claim a home win over the Cincinnati Bengals - with a 21 point second quarter.
Once again though they couldn't build on that result and a poor fourth-quarter in Indiana saw them lose 23-16 to the Indianapolis Colts, before a trip to London, England saw them fall to yet another defeat as the Baltimore Ravens claimed a 24-16 victory at their expense.
A bye in week 7 allowed them to rest and recharge, and they returned to action with a win against the Atlanta Falcons thanks to a touchdown in all four quarters, as they saw off a late fight-back to claim a 28-23 win heading into this game.
NFL Picks: Tennesse Titans +2.5 @ EVS
The Titans have been underdogs by 2.5 points or more six times this season and are 4-2 ATS in those games. That's a positive straight off the bat when looking at this match up, but it also helps to look at the way their games have gone too.
Pittsburgh either win a close game or get absolutely hammered by their opponent, and while Tennesse aren't as good as some of the teams that have taken the Steelers to school this season they're more than good enough to hold their own when it comes to the scoring.
Defensively they have struggled, especially against the pass as they are averaging 232 pass yards against per game, which ranks them 19th in the entire NFL, while they allow 107.4 rush yards against which has them ranked 16th across the league.
Pittsburgh's strength is their passing, but not by much. They are averaging 192 pass yards per game and 79.7 rush yards per game which ranks them 25th and 28th respectively.
It seems like the Titans should be able to deal with them for the most part and if they do fall to a defeat, then it will be small so this spread suits them well. At even money, it's great value even on the road.
Check out our review for BetUS sports betting here.
NFL Picks: Over 36.5 total points @ -105
So far this season both teams have played seven games each, and there have been plenty of points in most of those games.
In fact in the Steelers' seven games so far this ticket would have cashed in four of them, and one those would have only missed by a single point. For the Titans it's exactly the same, with four games from seven going hitting at least 37 points.
Tennessee are averaging 18.8 points per game scored right now, and Pittsburgh are averaging just 16.1 which would leave you just under the total. But when you factor in that defensively the Titans are conceding an average of 20 points per game and the Steelers are conceding an average of 21 points per game, you would expect both teams to do slightly better than their average offensively and get this ticket to cash.
Check out our review for BetOnline sports betting here.
