The Pittsburgh Steelers and Los Angeles Chargers will wrap up Sunday's action in Week 11 when these two AFC squads go head-to-head in primetime for "Sunday Night Football." Both of these teams were held out of the win column last time out with the Chargers falling to the Minnesota Vikings, while the Steelers tied with the Detroit Lions. Despite those outcomes, each of these teams is very much in the hunt for a playoff spot in the conference, giving this contest even more weight.
It should be noted that this game has a COVID-19 angle to it as well. For Pittsburgh, Minkah Fitzpatrick has already been ruled out after landing on COVID-19 list, while quarterback Ben Roethlisberger missed last week's game due to the virus and will need to be activated by 4 p.m. ET to play. Meanwhile, L.A. has Joey Bosa, Christian Covington, Jerry Tillery and Drue Tranquill on the COVID list, but coach Brandon Staley noted that each has a chance to play.
Below, we'll specifically be looking at the different betting angles that this primetime matchup has in store for us. We'll be taking a look at how the lines have moved throughout the week leading into Sunday night and, of course, give you our picks for this game along with a handful of our favorite player props.
All NFL odds via Caesars Sportsbook.
How to watch
Date: Sunday, Nov. 21 | Time: 8:20 p.m. ET
Location: SoFi Stadium (Inglewood, CA)
TV: NBC | Stream: fuboTV (try for free)
Follow: CBS Sports App
Odds: Chargers -5.5; O/U 47
Line movement
The early look on this line was Chargers -3.5, but has jumped up to Chargers -5.5 following the club's tie with Detroit along with the status of a number of key players still in question.
The pick: Steelers +5.5. This is a solid number to grab ahold of, especially with Steelers fans historically traveling extremely well and the Chargers having a less than ideal home field advantage. In fact, it wouldn't be surprising to mistake this game being at Heinz Field for how the crowd should lean heavily in favor of Pittsburgh. As for the on-field product, I'm not too concerned with who is under center for the Steelers although the ceiling will be high if Roethlisberger is able to clear protocol. Really, this could be another game where rookie running back Najee Harris takes over as the Chargers have the worst run defense in the NFL and are allowing 155.1 rushing yards per game.
Key trend: Steelers are 18-7-1 ATS in their last 26 games as a road underdog.
Over/Under total
This number opened at 48 and briefly jumped to 48.5 prior to Week 10, but has since dipped to 47 on Friday.
The pick: Under 47. Neither club is lighting up the scoreboard to a crazy degree this season. The Steelers are averaging just 19.7 points per game for the season (25th in the NFL), while the Chargers come in putting up 24.3 points a game (15th in the NFL). With the ground attack set to be centrally featured by Pittsburgh, that should slow the game down as well. Between these two teams, the Under is a combined 12-5-1 combined this season.
Key trend: The Under is 7-2 in the Steelers last 9 games.
Player props to consider
Najee Harris total rushing yards: Over 80.5 (-115). As we noted above, Harris is set to go against a Chargers run defense that is the worst in the NFL and allows massive yardage to opposing backs. He's also gone over this total in four of his last five games, including a 105-yard performance last week against Detroit.
Najee Harris total rushing/receiving yards: Over 115.5 (+100). This is a massive number so tread lightly. That said, Harris' involvement in the passing game puts the Over in play here. Over his last four games, Harris is averaging nearly 30 receiving yards per game. If he flirts with that number, his rushing ability should be able to push us over.
Pat Freirmuth total receptions: Over 3.5 (-110). He's gone over this number in his last four games and is averaging 7.3 targets per game over that stretch. L.A. is also giving up roughly five catches per game to opposing tight ends this season.
