Steelers vs. Giants: Expert picks in Pittsburgh’s Week 1 matchup
By Tommy Jaggi
The Pittsburgh Steelers travel to New York to face the Giants on Monday Night Football. Here’s who the experts are taking in Week 1.
The Steelers are ready to erase what turned out to be an embarrassing season in 2019. While they still haven’t finished worse than 8-8 under the direction of Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh’s offense was held captive by lackluster quarterback play from Mason Rudolph and Devlin Hodges last year.
This season could be different. With Ben Roethlisberger set to return and with an improved roster on paper, the Steelers could be in for a promising season. But what do experts think about their chances of knocking off the Giants in Week 1?
Though the game will be played at MetLife Stadium, experts are all in on the Steelers this week. According to NFL Pick Watch, a whopping 94 percent of experts from various football sites have chosen Pittsburgh to win this week, as of Friday night.
Why the experts like the Steelers this week
Though Pittsburgh isn’t known for their explosive starts out of the gate, it’s not hard to see why the Steelers would be heavily favored by football analysts in this contest. Pittsburgh’s roster looks rock-solid on paper. They are the only defense in the league to boast three first-team All-Pro players last year, and their offense seemed to have improved at nearly every position.
Roethlisberger now has what seems to be an arsenal of weapons at his disposal, and Pittsburgh beefed up their running back depth this offseason as well.
New York’s roster doesn’t look as promising. Though Daniel Jones showed signs of life in his first NFL sesaon, Pittsburgh has always fared well against young signal-callers, and Jones doesn’t exactly have top-flight receivers or an upper-echelon offensive line to bail him out of trouble.
Though Pittsburgh is favored by just 3.5 points in this contest, according to The Action Network, they have a far superior roster on paper. It also doesn’t help the Giants that there will be no crowd noise to back them up this year.
While the Steelers may not run away with the victory early in this matchup, the fact that just 6 percent of experts are choosing the Giants should make you think twice before betting on them this week.
Next. Pittsburgh Steelers vs. New York Giants: 5 things fans should know in Week 1. dark
The Steelers aren’t unbeatable early in the year and they are 1-1-1 in their last three season-openers since 2017. However, if they can manage to put up at least 26 points in Week 1, it’s hard to envision a scenario where their top-notch defense allows New York’s offense to outscore them. This should be a victory for Pittsburgh, but it may be closer than you think.