The Pittsburgh Steelers and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers face off against one another this Monday night. The Steelers come into Tampa Bay as slight two-point favorites and 5Dimes has set the total at 53.5.
In what could be the most intriguing matchup in Week 3, the 0-1-1 Pittsburgh Steelers go on the road to Raymond James Stadium to face the upstart 2-0 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Game time on ESPN is set for 8:15 p.m.
Pittsburgh at Tampa Bay Overview
Pittsburgh has been one of the top teams in the AFC for the past several seasons, but a 0-1-1 straight-up start along with a number of off-field issues has the current level of concern rather high in the Steel City. A 21-21 Week 1 tie against Cleveland as 3.5-point road favorites was followed by the Steelers’ 42-37 loss to Kansas City as four-point favorites at home. The total went OVER in both games, and it has gone OVER in four of their last five games.
Gaining yards and scoring points has not been an issue for Pittsburgh but stopping teams from doing the same has. The Chiefs rolled up 449 yards of total offense in last week’s game with Patrick Mahomes throwing six touchdowns. Steelers’ quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has thrown for 787 yards and four touchdowns in two games with four different players tallying at least eight receptions. James Conner has rushed for 152 yards and three scores in place of Le’Veon Bell.
Tampa Bay has been one of the biggest stories early in the season at 2-0 both SU and against the spread. The Buccaneers stunned New Orleans 48-40 as 10-point road underdogs before proving they were for real with a solid 27-21 victory against Philadelphia as three-point underdogs at home. Each of these games easily went OVER the closing total line, and it has gone OVER in six of their last nine games.
In the absence of Jameis Winston due to a league suspension, veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick has made the most of his opportunity as the Bucs’ new starting quarterback with 819 passing yards and eight touchdown passes in two games while completing an impressive 78.7 percent of his 61 passing attempts. Everything has been clicking in the passing game from DeSean Jackson’s big-play receptions to Mike Evans catching 17 of the 19 balls thrown his way.
Pittsburgh at Tampa Bay Betting Trends
- The Steelers are 1-4 ATS in their last five September games, and they have failed to cover in five of their previous seven games in Week 3. The total has gone OVER in nine of their last 14 Week 3 games.
- The Buccaneers have failed to cover in their last five Week 3 games, but they improve to 8-3 ATS in their previous 11 games following an ATS win. The total has gone OVER in their previous three games.
- The road team in this inter-conference clash has covered in four of the last five meetings and the total has gone OVER in the previous two matchups.
