Editor's note: The Baltimore Ravens have announced Lamar Jackson won't play in Week 17 — along with other players such as Mark Ingram and Earl Thomas — since this piece was published.
The Ravens moved from 1-point favorites to 1-point underdogs as a result.
Hoping to take the Steelers at +10 early this week to get some excellent closing line value when the Ravens announce Lamar Jackson won't play? Keep on hoping.
Sportsbooks around the market aren't waiting on the Ravens to make that likely announcement, as they opened with the Ravens as mere 2.5-point favorites at home against the Steelers. That line was apparently not even low enough, as the consensus is now just Baltimore -1.
Odds as of Monday at 2 p.m. ET and via FanDuel, where Action Network users get a risk-free bet up to $500.
At this point, early bettors will need to hope for the opposite — take Baltimore and hope Jackson plays for some odd reason. He does want to play per reports, but said the decision is up to head coach John Harbaugh.
What would this line be under normal circumstances? Well, per The Action Network's Director of Analytics Sean Koerner, Baltimore would be around -13.5 to -14 with Jackson under center.
Is Lamar Jackson worth nearly two whole touchdowns to the spread?
No, sorry Lamar, nobody is. Not even the soon-to-be-MVP.
Remember that the Ravens have some other pretty good players too, considering they have 12 Pro Bowlers. While there's a chance none of those individuals would move the line on their own, they're certainly worth something as a group. It's quite possible many of those players play only a portion of the game, if at all.
There's no official word on who's in and who's out yet, but Mark Ingram's calf strain he suffered in Week 16 will likely keep him sidelined. No reason to risk further injury with the 1-seed locked up.
With this in mind, bettors need to decide if they trust Robert Griffin III to run the Ravens offense in a similar fashion. Anyone with faith in him probably loves their chances with Baltimore at -1.
Pittsburgh, on the other hand, is still in the hunt for a wild card and will be doing all it can to win. News broke on Monday afternoon that Devlin "Duck" Hodges is expected to start thanks to a Mason Rudolph shoulder injury. James Conner's status is also iffy with a quad injury.
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