A couple of teams with hopes of returning to the playoffs this season begin their 2013 campaigns when the Pittsburgh Steelers, after going 8-8 last year, host the Tennessee Titans Sunday afternoon at Heinz Field (1 pm ET, CBS).
With a week to go before this game kicks off the Steelers were favored by seven points over the visiting Titans, who are coming off a 6-10 season.
Tennessee has trended heavily UNDER (6-1 past 7 season openers) and even moreso when those openers happen on the road (7-1).
Pittsburgh on the other hand has played 6 straight September OVERs, while slumping overall to just a 3-8 ATS mark as a favorite lately.
View Tennessee vs Pittsburgh Odds and Stats.
Betting Line:
Sportsbooks, including Sportsbook, had set the Steelers as 6.5-point favorites on the Sportsbook line for this contest. The total was hovering around 43.5 earlier in the week (check for the current over-under lines at Sportsbook).
Power Rankings / Prediction:
The power rankings show a disparity between these teams, with the Steelers rated this week at No. 8 and the Titans sitting at No. 31. It may or may not play a role in OddsShark score prediction models that turned out a 24-14 result in favor of the Steelers this week.
Tennessee Titans Trends:
When playing in September are 5-5
When playing on grass are 4-6
After being outgained are 5-5
When playing outside the division are 5-5
Pittsburgh Steelers Trends:
When playing in September are 6-4
When playing on grass are 4-6
After being outgained are 7-3
When playing outside the division are 5-5
A few Titans at Steelers trends to consider:
The total has gone OVER in 8 of Tennessee's last 10 games when playing on the road against Pittsburgh
The total has gone OVER in 8 of Tennessee's last 11 games when playing Pittsburgh
Tennessee is 12-6 SU in its last 18 games when playing Pittsburgh
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Tennessee's last 9 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 10 of Pittsburgh's last 11 games at home
Pittsburgh is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Tennessee
The total has gone OVER in 8 of Pittsburgh's last 10 games when playing at home against Tennessee
Pittsburgh is 15-4 SU in its last 19 games at home
Next up:
Tennessee at Houston, Sunday, September 15
Pittsburgh at Cincinnati, Monday, September 16
