The Tennessee Titans and Pittsburgh Steelers will have the honors of kicking off Week 9 of the 2023 NFL season when they meet on “Thursday Night Football” at Acrisure Stadium.
Tennessee is coming off an impressive Week 8 win against the Atlanta Falcons that gave us a glimpse at the potential future of the franchise at quarterback in Will Levis, who was sensational in his debut.
Meanwhile, the Steelers are coming off a loss to the Titans’ division rival, the Jacksonville Jaguars, who topped Pittsburgh, 20-10, in a game that saw young signal-caller Kenny Pickett exit early with an injury.
The Titans have struggled mightily against the Steelers since 2014 and will look to exorcise their demons on Thursday. But before both teams take the field, a look at six things to know for the contest.
Steelers are favored
According to BetMGM, the Steelers are 2.5-point favorites over the Titans. The over/under, which sits at a low 36.5, is the lowest total of the Week 9 slate as of this writing.
Steelers have owned the Titans
The Titans are 32-48 all time (including playoffs) against the Steelers, and Pittsburgh has won each of the last four matchups against Tennessee, including two straight at home.
The last time the Titans beat the Steelers in Pittsburgh came in 2013, when the Titans won 16-9.
Titans are winless on the road
The Titans have yet to win a single game on the road this season, sporting an 0-3 record. Tennessee is 0-4 in total away from its home field if you count the London game in which the Titans were the designated home team.
Pittsburgh is 2-2 at Acrisure Stadium but lost its last home contest against the Jaguars in Week 8.
Another start for Will Levis
After taking the NFL world by storm in Week 8 by throwing for 238 yards and four touchdowns, Levis will make his second NFL start in Week 9 with Ryan Tannehill still sidelined due to an ankle injury.
During the week, head coach Mike Vrabel didn’t rule out Levis starting the rest of the season, calling it “a possibility.”
One thing is for sure, though: Titans fans want to move forward with Levis.
The Kentucky product injected some much-needed hope into the Titans, both now and for the future. But he’ll have to stack good games before we can say he’s legit, something he’ll try to do in a hostile environment in Week 9.
With Will Levis set to make his second start, he is what the other #Titans QBs of the past did in their second game. Most of them regressed statistically at least from their first start. pic.twitter.com/KgxmKV89wa
— Terry McCormick (@terrymc13) November 1, 2023
Kenny Pickett is "playing for sure"
After head coach Mike Tomlin said Pickett might be a game-time decision with the rib injury that knocked him out of last week’s game, the second-year signal-caller was quite definite when asked if he’ll suit up, with Pickett saying he’s “playing for sure.”
Pickett has been limited in practice the first two days of the week. We’ll see if he’s at all bothered by his injury come Thursday.
Struggling offenses
The reason why the over/under listed above is so low is because the Titans and Steelers are two of the lower scoring teams in the NFL through eight weeks.
Pittsburgh is scoring the fourth-fewest points per game (16.1) while Tennessee is tied for the 10th-fewest (18.9).
However, six of Tennessee’s games saw Tannehill under center. With Levis at the helm last week, the Titans scored 28 points, the most the team has notched in a game since Week 18 of 2021.
