Steelers vs Broncos: Who the experts are taking in week 2

The Steelers return to Heinz Field with their week two match up against the Denver Broncos. This game seems to be highly favored for the Steelers even though its not as much as a consensus as last week’s game.

The Steelers are finally coming back to where they belong, on the grass of Heinz Field. The city of bridges has long awaited the return of football even if that means not having any fans in the stands for this season. Football buzz is real in Pittsburgh right now, especially after that big win against the Giants on Monday.

The Broncos come into Pittsburgh with predictors and Vegas both betting against them. Vegas has the Steelers as seven-point favorites over Denver. Not a real surprise as many around the league can see the obvious differences in talent between these two rosters.

From experts across the spectrum of CBS Sports, Yahoo, Sporting News, and Bleacher Report the Steelers are picked in each one. Their highly favored odds come after the news of both teams sustaining injuries in week one. Denver lost their running back, Phillip Lindsay, and cornerback, AJ Bouye. These are two significant losses for a team that was already struggling with some of the players’ skill sets. Pittsburgh lost their starting Right Tackle, Zach Banner and potentially Stefen Wisniewski and that could be a cause for concern against a solid Broncos front seven.

The Broncos head into this game with a record of 0-1 after a loss in a late-night game on Monday against the Tennessee Titans. The game saw both teams struggle to move their respective offenses up and down the field and that should be a nice thing for fans to hear. The men in black and yellow should be able to show how good this defense is with facing another struggling offense. Add on the Denver injuries and this is a very favorable matchup for those cheering for the home team.

The biggest X-factor in this game will be Ben Roethlisberger and how he can operate against a depleted Denver defense. The hope would be for the Steelers offense to continue right where they left off the previous game and play a full 60 minutes this time. If Roethlisberger can control the game with the offense and take advantage of this beaten up defense, then this should be another relatively controlled win.

Controlled meaning that Pittsburgh will hold the lead the entire game and even if it is close, they will come out on top. Expect Roethlisberger and the offense to play more of a whole game this time around and for the defense to take advantage of Broncos quarterback, Drew Lock.

Prediction: Steelers 28, Broncos 20

The Steelers are the better team heading into this game even when considering the injuries from week one. As long as they play to their potential like last game they will be 2-0 by this time next week.