TNF Pick ATS: Titans vs. Steelers Betting Predictions

Tennessee Titans (3-4 SU, 4-3 ATS) vs. Pittsburgh Steelers (4-3 SU, 4-3 ATS)

Week 9 NFL

Date/Time: Thursday Night Football, November 2, 2023 at 8:15PM EDT

Where: Acrisure Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

TV: Prime Video

Point Spread: TEN +2.5/PIT -2.5 (Bovada – Check out their live betting platform. It’s INCREDIBLE!)

Money Line: TEN +125, PIT -145

Over/Under Total: 36.5

The Tennessee Titans battle the Pittsburgh Steelers in a week 9 AFC battle on Thursday Night Football. While it is Pittsburgh with the better mark at 4-3, last week saw the Titans get the 28-23 win over the Falcons, with rookie QB Will Levis playing in relief of Ryan Tannehill and throwing 4 TD passes in the win. The Steelers, meanwhile, were in a grind against the Jaguars on Sunday, falling in a 20-10 slop-fest where they saw starting QB Kenny Pickett go down with a rib injury late in the first half. Still 4-3 and at home, this will be a pivotal week for the Steelers. Can they get it done at home or have the Titans found new life?

Tough Spot for the Short Week

With the quick turnaround, Pickett will not play this week, with the Steelers sticking with backup Mitch Trubisky. Also hurt on Sunday was Minkah Fitzpatrick with a hammy and we might not see him either. It was rough watching a Jacksonville defense that hadn’t really looked good in a number of weeks get the number on this Steelers’ offense so drastically on Sunday. They really struggled to move the ball. They couldn’t run, and while Trubisky was getting a little more out of the offense aerially, two picks really undermined the entire effort. They continue to see their defense play well even at times when the offense goes into the deep-freeze, but if they want this 4-3 mark to become a postseason berth at some point, answers need to be found on offense. They can really hit depths that few other teams can on this side of the ball.

The Tennessee defense does not make for an easy afternoon in certain respects. We see the Steelers struggling to run the ball, regardless of who it is in the backfield. Tennessee isn’t an easy team to run on and while we’ve seen a slip-up or two this season on that front, it’s unlikely that this is where the Steelers ground-game gets untracked. So, you’re then left with the prospects of your offensive success riding on a Mitch Trubisky-led aerial attack. And while we’ve seen the Titans be vulnerable in this area, it’s generally against more-talented aerial offenses than Mitch Trubisky and his two main targets George Pickens and Diontae Johnson.

I’d expect something in the way of major urgency this Thursday with head coach Mike Tomlin and his squad pushing hard to not drop two in a row at home this week. They’re nice and dug in for this home-stand, with three in a row at home with this being the second one. Coming into this home-stand at 4-2, this is a pivotal point in the season and if things get sideways now with all those tough road spots coming up, it could really be curtains for a team that has been able to show a fair amount of moxie leading up to this week, last week’s game notwithstanding. This is a real show-and-prove week for a Steelers’ team not really at full strength.

What Can the Titans Do About It?

The Titans got a good development as they now try to climb out of the hole that their rough start to the season put them in. Seeing Will Levis do well with this offense and get 4 TDs in the air was promising. It was in many ways the first glimpse of a Tennessee offense in working order. This is what they want to see—Derrick Henry with a 100-yard game and lead receiver DeAndre Hopkins dominant with three TD grabs. Whether it was because Levis was in there or if that was mere happenstance remains to be seen. And for those who saw the young Levis in college, a good game could mean a bad one is coming down the pike. Still, with Ryan Tannehill having struggled so much, you’d almost think they throw Levis out there on Thursday even in the event that Tannehill is ready. This would be a weird time to go back to the cold hand.

At any rate, this isn’t going to be an easy road-spot against a Steelers’ team that might have a little more edge to them than is usually the case. It’s not a cushy defensive matchup for Levis, even if injuries have started to exact a toll on this Steelers’ defense. A lot more talented and experienced quarterbacks than Levis have struggled against this Pittsburgh “D,” meaning what we saw last week isn’t guaranteed to continue on Thursday in Pittsburgh. It was nice to see Henry get something close to old form last Sunday and ditto for Hopkins, but a Titans’ revival being promised based on that one win could be a faulty premise. And not that he had it easy last week, but Levis could experience considerably more-resistance in terms of pass-rush and a playmaking defense that can readily capitalize on miscues.

Take the Points with Will Levis and the Tennessee Titans

I want no part of Trubisky/Pickett right now. This is a really bad matchup for the Steelers as they love to run and Tennessee is stout up the middle. Will Levis looked incredible last week and even brought Nuk Hopkins back from the dead. Both of Pittsburgh’s corners stink. I love the Titans at +2.5 and will be grabbing a slice of the money line here too!