Betting the Black & Gold Week 3: Pittsburgh Steelers vs. St. Louis Rams

The Pittsburgh Steelers (1-1) will butt heads with another NFC West opponent in Week 3 when they travel to St. Louis to take on the Rams (1-1). Before we look to see what Vegas thinks about this matchup, let's take a look back at how we did in Week 2.

Week 2 Recap

The Steelers rebounded from a Week 1 loss to the New England Patriots and took care of business at Heinz Field against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 2. Readers who took my advice and bet on Pittsburgh to win the game and cover the six-point spread were rewarded, as the Steelers cruised to a 43-18 victory.

Improvement is something we strive for every day here at BTSC, so let's see if we can do even better in Week 3, and also hit on the over/under and a prop bet or two.

Week 3

The Rams enter Sunday's matchup with the Steelers coming off a 24-10 loss to the Washington Redskins. After a surprising 34-31 win over the Seattle Seahawks in Week 1, St. Louis struggled on the road in Washington, surrendering 182 rushing yards to Matt Jones and Alfred Morris.

The Steelers roll into St. Louis fresh off a 43-18 drubbing of the 49ers, and most of the major betting sites have them listed as one-point favorites over the Rams.

Money Line

Steelers -125 ($10.00 wins $8.00)

Rams +105 ($10.00 wins $10.50)

It's hard to figure out which Rams team will show up at the Edward Jones Dome this Sunday. Will it be the team that beat the defending NFC Champions in Week 1? Or will it be the team that lost to Redskins by two touchdowns in Week 2? Perhaps the better question is, given the way the Steelers offense has moved the ball this season, will it even matter?

Count me among those who believe the Steelers can move the ball and score a lot of points against any defense in the NFL, including the Rams. Pittsburgh's offense currently ranks first in yards per game (458.5) and third in points per game (32.0); and this production came without All-Pro running back Le'Veon Bell, who returns to the starting line up this week.

Look for the Steelers offense to continue its dominance in St. Louis, and for the Steelers defense to do enough to keep Nick Foles and company in check.

*Facts of note:

Pittsburgh is 5-2 straight up in its last seven games

St. Louis is 1-4 straight up in its last five games

The play:

Steelers - 125

Spread

Steelers -1 (-110) ($10.00 wins $9.09)

Rams +1 (-110) ($10.00 wins $9.09)

One would think, based on these teams performances last week, that the Steelers would be favored by more than one point in this game. But it appears the Rams impressive win over the Seahawks in Week 1 has had a lingering affect on Vegas.

Because the spread is only a point, the logical thing to do here is to bet on the Steelers to cover, in addition to betting on them to win straight up. The same thing goes if you're betting on the Rams.  If you bet them to win, and you feel good about it, you might as well bet them to cover.

According to OddsShark.com, the Steelers are getting 64% of the action against the spread, so if you're betting them to cover, you should do it quickly, before the line moves.

*Facts of note:

Pittsburgh is 5-1-1 against the spread in its last seven games

St. Louis is 1-4 against the spread in its last five games

The play:

Steelers -1

Over/Under

49 (-110) ($10.00 wins $9.09)

The Steelers and Rams offenses are averaging a combined 54.0 points per game this season, while the defenses have surrendered a combined average of 50.50 points per game.

We saw last week that the Steelers are capable of scoring at least 40 points in any given game, and it appears the red zone issues that plagued them in Week 1 have been corrected.

The Rams and Seahawks combined for 65 points at the Edward Jones Dome in Week 1.  Look for a similar score line in this one.

*Facts of note:

The total has gone over in six of St. Louis's last eight games at home

The play:

Over 49

Game Prop

Steelers will score over 25 points -115 ($10.00 wins $8.70)

Player Prop

Antonio Brown total receiving yards over 106.5 -115 ($10.00 wins $8.70)

The Long Shot

Le'Veon Bell total receiving yards over 75 +500 ($10.00 wins $50.00)

Prediction

Steelers 34, Rams 21