Dan Leach's NFL Thursday Night Pick Festival
By Dan Leach,
@dtmleach
Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers 8:25 p.m. Thursday, CBS (Ravens -3)
The Steelers have started this year in high fashion, save the opening night loss to New England. But with the 2-1 start came a price as they lost QB Ben Roethlisberger for four to six weeks with a left knee injury. So now you have a Ravens team in the most desperate of situations, playing against together hated division rival on the road, without Big Ben. Seems like a lay-up right? Not so fast my friends, as in steps Mike Vick for Pittsburgh in the latest attempt to restart his career. The last time he started was week 11 for the Jets in Buffalo and his team got blasted 38-3 with Vick just 7-19 for 76 yards and rushed for just four yards on two attempts.
The stakes definitely different in this one as the Steelers could all but end the Ravens season in the first month of the 2015 campaign -- and Vick could be the hero for the first time in a long time. Pitt also has done well in the past when Big Ben has gone down, most notably in their AFC Championship season in 2010 when Roethlisberger was out with a suspension for the first four games and Dennis Dixon and former Detroit Lion Charlie Batch filled in admirably for him.
This is going to be a strange back and forth game with the Ravens giving everything they have, knowing a loss here and it's all over for them in 2015. Vick will play well, but Joe Flacco will play better and the Ravens will stave off elimination for one week, at least in beating their hated division rival in the Big Ketchup Bottle.
7.4 DTM Bagels and Locks on the Ravens (-3 buy down to 2.5)
