Thursday Night Football Preview Tennessee Titans @ Pittsburgh Steelers: NFL Best Bets and Props, DeAndre Hopkins, Will Levis, Diontae Johnson and Kenny Pickett
It's time for Thursday Night Football and we're going to break down everything you need to know to make some money tonight.
Last week we got another good Thursday Night Football game. The Buffalo Bills came away with the win but continued to underperform. They knocked off the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at home by a score of 24-18. Neither the offense nor defense has played up to par in weeks now. This week we get the Pittsburgh Steelers hosting the Tennessee Titans in what should be a close but low-scoring affair. A ferocious Steelers' defense will get their shot at rookie QB Will Levis, who is making just his second NFL start, however, he looked shockingly good last week. On the other side of the ball, a tough Titans' front will look to frustrate an already struggling Steelers' offense. This is a game that could go either way and will likely be determined by the defense creating turnovers and forcing the offenses to make mistakes.
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Week 9 Thursday Night Football Best Bets
Both of these teams are not good, but somehow always find a way to win more games than they seemingly should and be consistently competitive. They are well-coached and well-run organizations. This should be a tough grind-it-out kind of game that at the end of the day we expect the Steelers to pull out at home. A young quarterback making his second start against T.J. Watt and this defense is difficult to believe in.
When it comes to your fantasy team there aren't a ton of great options, but definitely a few guys you should get in your lineup. In Tennessee, Derek Henry and DeAndre Hopkins are must-starts this week. The Steelers have been torched on the ground, allowing the sixth-most rushing yards in the league this season. After last week, Hopkins has to be in there too. The Steelers are allowing the sixth-most fantasy points to wide receivers and in Levis's first game, he caught four of six targets for 128 yards and three TDs. While he may have only turned the clock back for one week, we are rolling with him until given reason otherwise. We may catch lightning in a bottle with him and Levis. Other than that, Tyjae Spears and Chig Okonkwo could be desperation streaming options we'd rather avoid, and Levis is a risky QB2 in SuperFlex leagues despite an impressive debut in Week 8.
For Pittsburgh, it gets even uglier. Diontae Johnson is the only guy we want in our lineups. We understand that a lot of owners will have to roll with Najee Harris or Jaylen Warren, but you shouldn't be excited about it. George Pickens could also be a risky flex option if needed. Other than that, avoid this team. With that said, both the Steelers' and Titans' D/ST are outstanding starts this week. If either are on waivers and available to stream you should grab them and plug them in.
The Steelers are coming off a beatdown from the Jags while the Titans got a big win against the Falcons. Pittsburgh is now 4-3 and Tennesee is 3-4. We expect last week's script to flip with the Steelers getting back on track and the Titans' offense to come plummeting back down to earth against a vicious pass rush.
The Picks
Pittsburgh Steelers -3 (-102)
Pittsburgh Steelers Moneyline (-155)
Over/Under O37 (-110)
Player Props of the Night
Prop #1: Kenny Pickett, Under 1.5 TD Passes (-220)
This is an easy one for us. In seven games, Pickett has only thrown five TDs and he's only thrown two in a game once all year. To put that into perspective, he's had three games when he didn't throw a TD at all. He could always throw a short dump-off that the back takes to the house or a jump ball that Pickens goes up and gets, nevertheless, we are going to bet on the thing that always happens and not fear an outlier.
Prop #2: DeAndre Hopkins, Over 53.5 Receiving Yards (-120)
Last week, when in doubt Levis threw the ball up to Hopkins. We are expecting much of the same this week. Young QBs often focus on one guy that they rely on and hyper-target them. There is no reason to believe that won't be the case this week and against that secondary Hopkins should be able to make a few big plays. The only way the Steelers stop receivers is by hitting the quarterback. There will be at least a few plays when D-Hop is running free and Levis has some time to get it to him.
Prop #3: Diontae Johnson, Over 4.5 Receptions (-166)
Johnson has played two full games this season. In those two games, he saw 20 targets and caught 13 passes. This line is lower than we expected and we're all over it. While he may not pile up the yards and TDs like fantasy owners would like, he does see a ton of targets and catch a ton of passes. Of all these props this is our favorite. It should be easy money.
