Behind the Steel Curtain
The Steelers are looking to get to 5-2 and continue building a lead in the AFC North race as the season reaches its halfway point. They’ll host the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night, a team they haven’t lost to at home since 1970. Will they get win No. 5? Our staff weighs in with their Week 8 picks.
Ryan Parish: Last week, the Steelers lost a game that many suspected they would drop, despite seemingly matching up well on paper. This week, the doomers are out saying there is no shot the Steelers can beat Green Bay, who seems like a bad matchup on paper. Just as Tomlin has a bad record on the road for TNF, he has a good record after a TNF (14-6), and especially after a loss (8-3).
Neither Pittsburgh’s nor Green Bay’s defense is as good as they would have hoped, and both play a bend-don’t-break style. The difference is that Green Bay has struggled to create turnovers, with just three on the season. If Pittsburgh can protect the ball and sustain drives, they come out on top. Steelers 33 – Packers 30
Alex Hanczar: Pittsburgh’s annual trap game is behind us, and the black and gold look ahead to another primetime tilt this Sunday against Green Bay. The Packers come to town fresh off a narrow win on the road in Arizona. Micah Parsons, the most significant offseason transaction, had his best outing yet as the Penn State alumnus went for five tackles and three sacks. The four-time Pro-Bowler will look to carry that momentum into primetime this week as he faces a Steelers offense line that is beginning to find their way.
Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers offense scored 30+ points for the second time this season in a losing effort to Cincinnati in Week Seven. The flip side of that was Teryl Austin’s defense allowing 30+ points for the third time this season, a troubling statistic given Pittsburgh’s defense is the highest paid in the NFL.
The Steelers’ most formidable challenge will be defending the run against Green Bay’s bell cow, Josh Jacobs. This partially due to Bengals running back Chase Brown rushing for season-highs last week as well as Jacobs’ raw talent.
If Pittsburgh can keep the Packers’ offense at bay, pun intended, I believe they can get the job done.
Steelers, 28, Packers, 23.
Mike Nicastro: Death, taxes, and Mike Tomlin losing games on Thursday nights. I’m not overly as concerned about the loss as I am how they lost. If Joe Flacco ripped through the Steelers defense, what might Jordan Love do? In his career he has a passer rating of 121.1, 12 TDs and zero INTs on Sunday night football.
But the Packers have been a mess on the road. They lost to the Browns, tied the Cowboys, and squeaked one out against Jacoby Brissett’s Cardinals last Sunday. When it’s all said and done, Aaron Rodgers will make one more play than Love, and yet again, Tomlin...
