Week 15 betting preview: Steelers are now 2.5-point underdogs vs. Patriots

It may have taken the bookmakers a bit longer than usual to come up with a line for the Pittsburgh Steelers matchup with the New England Patriots on Sunday, but there seems to be a level of consensus among them as of Friday with virtually every sportsbook now offering a spread of 2.5-points.

Having opened at 1-point with the only bookmaker brave enough to price up the game on Sunday night, the line had gone as high as 4-points by midweek before settling at just under a field goal on Wednesday. As the big money comes in over the weekend, it would not be a surprise if this spread moved to 3-points and may even go as high as 3.5-points if there is enough support for New England. There is virtually no chance it will shorten.

An early totals position of 49-points had moved to 52-points by Tuesday, but has barely moved since then, barring a brief bump to 52.5-points and back again. After something of a journey throughout the week, the opening moneyline from Monday appears to have gone full circle and the initial price +120 is once again now available,

According to Oddsshark.com, Pittsburgh is 5-3-1 against the spread in their last nine games and 6-6-1 ATS overall on the season. The total has gone over in seven of the Steelers last eight games at home and the over is 8-5 so far in 2018. Pittsburgh is 1-5 ATS in their last six games versus New England at Heinz Field and the total has gone under in four of the Steelers last six games against them.

Another week without Conner would make Jaylen Samuels or Stevan Ridley great value for first touchdown scorer in Week 15 and Ridley paid off that bet at odds of 10/1 for first team touchdown against the Oakland Raiders last Sunday. With the Patriots expected to pay special attention to Antonio Brown in this game, our preference would be for JuJu Smith-Schuster to score first at expected odds of around 7/1 for first game touchdown and 4/1 for first team touchdown.