Steelers vs. Bucs Point Spread: Bookies not expecting many points

Two unlikely unbeatens meet up in Tampa Bay on Sunday; the winner leaves with a 3-0 record. The Steelers vs. Buccaneers point spread is currently Pittsburgh -2.5 at Sportsbook.com.

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Despite their 2-0 start which includes two outright underdog victories, the Steelers have yet to score an offensive touchdown in regulation. But their opportunistic defense has already forced eight turnovers, including seven in last week’s win at Tennessee. Tampa Bay has used a similar aggressive defense to force six turnovers and hold its opponents to 21 total points in two wins over Cleveland and Carolina. Thanks to these two swarming defenses, the Steelers vs. Bucs over/under is at an extremely low 33 points.

With Ben Roethlisberger still suspended and an injury to Dennis Dixon, Charlie Batch got plenty of PT last Sunday. Batch is 3-1 SU and ATS in four career starts for Pittsburgh, but he had a dismal performance last week (5-for-11 for 25 yards with two fumbles). The Steelers will once again rely on the legs of Rashard Mendenhall to move the football. Mendenhall rumbled for 120 yards Week 1 against Atlanta, but was held to 69 yards on 23 carries at Tennessee. WR Hines Ward has been hobbled by a calf injury and only had one catch against the Titans, but he is expected to play this Sunday.

Tampa Bay ranks 24^th in the NFL with 280.5 YPG, and the Bucs offense will be less than 100 percent due to some key injuries. RB Cadillac Williams is nursing a hamstring injury, backup RB Kareem Huggins missed last week’s game due to a groin injury and TE Kellen Winslow has missed practice time this week because of a knee injury. All three are expected to play, but that may not be enough for QB Josh Freeman to gain yardage against a stellar Pittsburgh defense that has allowed just 266.5 YPG and 20 total points this year.

These teams have met just three times in the past 10 years (2001, 2002, 2006) but all three have been similar results with the Steelers going 3-0 SU, ATS and UNDER. However, this bettingtrend shows that Pittsburgh’s turnover luck is not likely to hold up, making Tampa Bay the pick for Sunday:

Play Against - Favorites (PITTSBURGH) - after a game where they forced 4 or more turnovers against opponent after a game where they committed no turnovers. (103-59 since 1983.) (63.6%, +38.1 units. Rating = 2*).After crunching some more stats, it appears that the ‘under’ is also a good bet:

TAMPA BAY is 48-23 UNDER (+22.7 Units) after a win by 10 or more points since 1992. (Rating = 2*).

Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter