The Steelers shocked most of the predictors last week with their victory over the Bengals and things seem to be in their favor for week two.
The Steelers went into their first game on the road against the Cincinnati Bengals as severe underdogs. Most predictors did not give Pittsburgh a shot at winning the game in their first week of action. They surprised the world and carried a great defensive effort to a last second overtime win.
They head into week two without T.J. Watt in the lineup, which will leave a giant hole to try and fill for the next handful of weeks. Their home opener this weekend will be against the New England Patriots, who also showed their own struggles on offense. This seems like it will be a low scoring affair, but many experts believe that this should go in the black and gold’s favor.
Bleacher Report has the Steelers as the consensus favorites in this one
Bleacher Report was back again picking every game on the docket for this week, and they had some interesting decisions to make. Their entire team of predictors were all on the same page in their belief that the Steelers will emerge victorious in this matchup. Out of the seven people displaying their opinion, all of them have Pittsburgh winning this game.
Prediction: Steelers 23, Patriots 20
The main takeaway for the reasoning behind their picks was the defensive performance that the black and gold were able to display last week. They believe that with the Patriots lack of offensive attack will lead to poor results for the visiting club in this one. It will be a close game, but the defense of Pittsburgh will be able to do enough to get a win.
Sporting news has Pittsburgh barely squeezing out a win
Sporting news decides to roll with the Steelers as their predicted winner in this one after going against Pittsburgh just a week ago. There are many different things to consider when you try to guess what the outcome of this contest will be. The major factors will be how some of these players that are listed on the injury report perform when the time comes.
Prediction: Steelers 21, Patriots 20
Even though the Patriots are the road favorite according to the Vegas betting odds, this pick made more sense to this source. Injuries are going to be a concern for both teams, especially if different players miss game action. They were inspired by the Steelers upset last week and they believe that it will happen again in week two.
NFL Network’s panel has mixed results on this outcome
The Steelers remain the favorites for this game when it comes to the different professionals that call NFL Network home. The panel consists of ten experts that relayed their opinions on the outcome of this contest. Seven out of the ten chose Pittsburgh to emerge victorious over the Patriots when Sunday rolls around.
Out of the ten predictions, the majority had the game coming down to a one possession difference in the score. It should be a close one that the black and gold escape from 2-0 according to these projections. There was also a good chunk of points missing as many believe that this will be a low scoring affair.
Final prediction has the Steelers winning a boring game that stays close
This game is going to be tough to figure out as Pittsburgh brings a good defense, but it is missing a key piece with Watt out of the lineup. New England has a terrible offense, but it should still be able to move the ball down the field. The Steelers offense needs to take a step forward in week two against a tough defense.
Prediction: Steelers 23, Patriots 21
This is going to be another low scoring game that the black and gold will be involved in. It will come down to the wire in an otherwise anticlimactic match. The offense should get more stable as the weeks progress and that should show more in week two as the defense should also be able to hold down the fort better without Watt in the lineup.
The Steelers are not favored from Vegas betting odds, but many experts have them winning this one. It is going to be a close game that should see both offenses struggle at different points.