The Steelers renew their rivalry with the Ravens on Thursday night in Week 2. There will be plenty of negative story lines before this game after the release of Ray Rice. The running back would’ve been suspended for this game but his release is an extra distraction that might be tough for the Ravens to overcome.

Baltimore lost in Week 1 to the Cincinnati 23-16. The Ravens were fortunate that the Bengals offense settled for five first half field goals. The Ravens ended up running 85 plays and average 4.9 yards per play. The Bengals averaged 5.9 yards per play.

The Steelers played a dominant first half against the Browns and led 27-3 going into halftime. Then they fell apart and the game was tied early in the fourth quarter. They ended up kicking a field goal at the buzzer to win but it wasn’t encouraging that they lost the lead. Maybe they were thinking ahead to the Ravens game but it’s still inexcusable from Mike Tomlin’s team.

The last five meetings in this series has been decided by three points or less. Last season the Ravens won by two points at home against the Steelers. I think this game will be decided by a field goal or less again and the Steelers will win straight up.

Pick: Steelers (+3) over Ravens