Tennessee (3-4) at Pittsburgh (4-3)
When: Thursday, November 2nd, 2023
Where: Acrisure Stadium,
Pittsburgh, PA
Time: 8:15 ET | TV: Prime
Opening Odds: Pittsburgh -3.5/37
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The Tennessee Titans will look to stay in the playoff hunt when they visit the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday Night Football. The Titans will have to do it with a rookie quarterback in Will Levis, although he looked really good last week against the Atlanta Falcons. Ryan Tannehill missed the contest with a sprained right ankle and is unlikely to play against the Steelers. The Titans won 28-23 behind four touchdown passes from Levis and are just one game out of the final wild card spot in the AFC.
Holding down that last postseason spot are the Pittsburgh Steelers. They are also having quarterback issues, but starter Kenny Pickett is expected to play despite a rib injury suffered in last week’s 20-10 home loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Pickett was replaced by Mitch Trubisky and was limited during Tuesday’s walk-through. He later anointed himself as the starter.
The Steelers are slight 2.5-point favorites in Thursday’s contest with a total of 36.5. Including playoffs, Pittsburgh is 48-32 against the Titans franchise dating to its Houston Oilers days. The Steelers prevailed in their last matchup against the Titans 19-13 during the 2019 season when Ben Roethlisberger was still the man in Pittsburgh. The underdog is 11-4 ATS in the last 15 meetings.
Levis made his first NFL start at quarterback last week and threw for four touchdowns in a 28-23 upset victory over Atlanta. He joined Marcus Mariota and Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton as the only players with four TD passes in his debut. The 28 points was the most a Tennessee team has recorded since the 2021 season. Derrick Henry rushed for 101 yards, and DeAndre Hopkins caught four passes for 128 yards and three touchdowns. Hopkins now has 74 career TD receptions, ranking him fourth in the NFL since he entered the league in 2013.
Tennessee Titans Injury Report [2023]
| Player | Pos. | Status/Updated |
|---|---|---|
| Sean Murphy-Bunting | CB | Prob Sun - Thumb - 10/31/23 |
| Anthony Kendall | CB | Prob Thurs - Knee - 10/31/23 |
| Tyjae Spears | RB | Prob Thurs - Ankle - 10/31/23 |
| Josh Whyle | TE | Prob Thurs - Concussion - 10/31/23 |
| Chris Moore | WR | Ques Thurs - Personal - 10/31/23 |
| Derrick Henry | RB | Ques Thurs - Ankle - 10/31/23 |
| DeAndre Hopkins | WR | Ques Thurs - Toe - 10/31/23 |
| Jeffery Simmons | DT | Ques Thurs - Ankle - 10/31/23 |
| Chris Hubbard | OL | Ques Thurs - Concussion - 10/31/23 |
| Roger McCreary | CB | Ques Thurs - Hamstring - 10/31/23 |
| Ryan Tannehill | QB | Doub Thurs - Ankle - 10/31/23 |
| Taylor Stallworth | DT | Out indefinitely - Undisclosed - 10/25/23 |
| Mike Brown | S | Ques Thurs - Lower Body - 10/31/23 |
| Julius Chestnut | RB | Out indefinitely - Hamstring - 9/26/23 |
| Kearis Jackson | WR | Out indefinitely - Ankle - 9/22/23 |
| Hassan Haskins | RB | I-R - Undisclosed - 8/28/23 |
| Shakel Brown | DT | I-R - Ankle - 8/14/23 |
| Caleb Farley | CB | Out indefinitely - Back - 8/29/23 |
The Steelers’ offensive woes continued in last week’s loss and that was with Pickett in the lineup before he was injured. Trubisky threw for 138 yards and a TD in relief but also two interceptions. Pickett has passed for 1,330 yards with five touchdowns and four interceptions this season. The Steelers are 29th in scoring offense at 16.1 points per game and 30th in total offense at 271.7 yards per game. Pro Bowl safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, who leads the team in tackles this year, suffered a hamstring injury early in the first quarter and won’t play Thursday.
Pittsburgh Steelers Injury Report [2023]
| Player | Pos. | Status/Updated |
|---|---|---|
| Damontae Kazee | S | Prob Thurs - Hand - 10/31/23 |
| Kenny Pickett | QB | Ques Thurs - Ribs - 10/31/23 |
| Levi Wallace | CB | Ques Thurs - Foot - 10/31/23 |
| Minkah Fitzpatrick | S | Out Thurs - Hamstring - 10/31/23 |
| Pat Freiermuth | TE | Mid Nov - Hamstring - 10/21/23 |
| Anthony McFarland Jr. | RB | Ques Thurs - Knee - 10/31/23 |
| Cameron Heyward | DT | Ques Thurs - Groin - 10/31/23 |
| Cory Trice | DB | I-R - Leg - 8/2/23 |
| Renell Wren | DT | I-R - Achilles - 8/19/23 |
Pittsburgh is very fortunate to be 4-3 with how bad the offense has been. The defense has been bailing them out and I predict will do so again this week. Levis was great in his debut last week against Atlanta, but he’ll be up against a much better defense this time around. The Steelers keep finding ways to win and cover spreads. I’ll lay the points in this one.
Pick: Steelers -2.5
