Week 13 betting preview: Steelers remain 3.5-point favorites vs. Chargers

The Pittsburgh Steelers will be hoping to rebound from their loss to the Denver Broncos the same way their opponent did when they meet in Week 13 after both teams had their six game winning streaks snapped by the Broncos in successive weeks. The Los Angeles Chargers got back to winning ways with a 45-10 win over the Arizona Cardinals last weekend and the Steelers will be looking for a similar bounce back game when they meet at Heinz Field on Sunday.

Despite the expected absence of featured running back Melvin Gordon, an opening spread of 3.5-points surprisingly still remains, while there has been little change to the early totals position of 52.5 points. Most sportsbooks are currently offering a line of 51.5-points, with one or two bookmakers offering an Over/Under of 52-points.

From an initial money line price of -179, the best price currently available is -170, while most sportsbooks have Pittsburgh priced up at -180.

According to Oddsshark.com, Pittsburgh is 5-1-1 against the spread in their last seven games and 6-4-1 ATS overall on the season. The total has gone under in four of the Steelers last six games and the over is 6-5 so far in 2018. Pittsburgh is 11-4 ATS in their last 15 games versus Los Angeles and the total has gone over in four of the Steelers last five games at home against them.

Alejandro Villanueva scoring the Steelers’ first touchdown was a huge surprise in Week 12 and we will be looking for a more conventional name to put the opening points on the board this Sunday. The sensible money says James Conner or Antonio Brown will be the first in the endzone against the Chargers and we will be siding with Brown at prices of around 7/2 for the game’s first touchdown and around 5/2 for first team touchdown this week.