Take away Ben Roethlisberger and the Ravens are the better team. Much of the disadvantage of being the road team on a Thursday game is negated by the Ravens knowing the Steelers better than any team from their long-standing division rivalry and the short travel distance involved.

Still, I respect the rivalry aspect of this matchup. These teams have played a lot of games through the years that were determined by exactly three points. So with respect to that, I believe the best approach is to lay higher juice and take Baltimore on the money line - to win straight-up without laying any points.

The Ravens are in desperate straits at 0-3. Their defense is down this season, but it still is better than Pittsburgh's. The Steelers had a supreme gutty effort against the Rams last week, but that took tremendous effort and emotion. This short week hurts them. It also cuts down on the prep time for Michael Vick, who never was a quick study and now is so far past his prime that he looks finished.

The Steelers are going to rely heavily on Le'Veon Bell. The Ravens know this. They haven't allowed a 100-yard rusher in 35 consecutive games. They'll be stacking the line daring the washed-up Vick to beat them.

Joe Flacco is going to produce points. The Steelers have given up two or more touchdown passes in 11 of their last 13 games. The only quarterbacks not to throw multiple touchdown passes against the Steelers during this span were Nick Foles and Alex Smith.