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David Purdum, ESPN Staff Writer
The betting over/under total on the “Thursday Night Football” game between the New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers is testing a 30-year low, and weather isn’t even a factor.
The total on the Patriots-Steelers game dipped to 29.5 earlier this week at ESPN BET before settling at a consensus 30 at sportsbooks as of Thursday morning. That would be the lowest over/under since a 2006 divisional playoff game between the Carolina Panthers and Chicago Bears (30).
There hasn’t been a total under 30 since Dec. 26, 1993, when frigid temperatures contributed to three games having sub-30 totals. That Sunday featured the lowest total on a game in ESPN Stats & Information’s database: 28 on Colts at Patriots in New England, where temperatures were in the low 20s with 23 mph winds. Temperatures on Thursday in Pittsburgh are expected to be in the 40s with light winds.
The Steelers will start backup Mitch Trubisky at quarterback against the Patriots’ stingy defense following a high ankle sprain for Kenny Pickett, while New England has scored seven points or fewer in three straight games and Bailey Zappe took over as the starting quarterback for Sunday’s 6-0 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.
The Patriots-Steelers total was attracting more betting interest than usual at sportsbooks, the bulk of it on the under. Upward of 80% of the early bets on the total were on the under at multiple sportsbooks. A spokesperson for BetMGM said Thursday that there had been more bets on the total than any other market it was offering on the Patriots-Steelers game. Typically, the point spread garners the most bets.
The total on Sunday’s Jacksonville Jaguars–Cleveland Browns game, where a potential combination of backup quarterbacks and windy, rainy weather is in play, also was among the lowest NFL over/under in decades and was listed at a consensus 30.5 as of Thursday.