The Pittsburgh Steelers host the New England Patriots in Week 2. Here are the odds and our prediction for this AFC matchup.
There weren’t many experts who predicted the Pittsburgh Steelers would emerge victorious on the road against the Cincinnati Bengals. It took a number of things to go their way to pull off the upset, but the defense deserves a pat on the back for their performance.
Last week, we predicted the Steelers to cover the 6.5-point spread, but we had the Bengals winning 24-20. Week 1 can often be hard to predict, and I doubt many oddsmakers thought Joe Burrow would turn the ball over five times last week.
In Week 2, Mike Tomlin’s team is set to host Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots. The Pats are coming off a disappointing divisional loss in which they were only able to muster up 7 points against the Miami Dolphins. Here are the Steelers odds and our predictions for this week:
Steelers vs Patriots Odds Week 2
The Pittsburgh Steelers open Week 2 as 1.5-point underdogs to the New England Patriots, courtesy of Fanduel Sportsbook. Despite this contest being a home game for Pittsburgh at Acrisure Stadium and the fact that the Steelers are coming off an upset win, oddsmakers aren’t convinced Tomlin’s team should be favored. The Steelers have a moneyline of +102 and the over/under for this contest is set at 40.5 points.
Steelers vs Patriots Prediction Week 2
The fact that Pittsburgh’s offense struggled mightily in Week 1 certainly factors into how oddsmakers view this contest. Even with a game-winning field goal in overtime, Pittsburgh’s offense scored just 16 points against the Bengals last week. Meanwhile, Mitch Trubisky struggled and the running game failed to get going.
The Steelers recently lost T.J. Watt to a pectoral injury, which will prove to have an impact on their defense. However, we still like the moneyline for Pittsburgh in this contest. New England’s offense was arguably just as bad as Pittsburgh’s last week. Now they will play their second consecutive road game against a good defense while QB Mac Jones is dealing with back spasms.
In addition to taking the Steelers moneyline, this could be a low-scoring affair. Neither the Patriots nor Steelers have much offensive firepower at this point in time. We are also taking the under on the points total this week. When it’s all said and done, we think the Steelers pull off their second straight victory to begin the season with a final score of 20-17.