Steelers vs. Bills: Who the experts are taking in Week 5 AFC battle

The Steelers chances of winning in week five against the Buffalo Bills are slim, especially with what the experts are saying.

Heading into this week of competition, things are not looking good for the Steelers. The injury list continues to grow larger and that could affect the kind of product that they display on the field. They are coming off a tough loss against the Jets, but they do have some hope after making a quarterback change.

Kenny Pickett is the starter for Pittsburgh against the Buffalo Bills. It’s a tough schedule for the rookie to go up against, and he will have a huge challenge against the Bills on Sunday. Buffalo is the better team with Super Bowl aspirations and those desires have shown up in the different predictions that have been made for this game.

Sporting News has the Steelers losing this contest against Buffalo

Many are finding it hard to go against the Bills from winning this contest coming up. Sporting News stuck to their guns and chose the home club to win the game as they face a rookie quarterback entering his first start in the NFL. Many things could cause for this game to turn out differently but either way, the Bills look like they are primed for victory.

Prediction: Bills 31, Steelers 19

Even though the offense of the black and gold should be able to move the ball more, Pickett will force throws into bad situations. He could be going up against a banged-up secondary with the Bills and that could lead to a better day at the office if he can stay off the turnover sheet. Josh Allen and his offense should be able to take advantage of a defense that could be missing even more starters this week than they did last week.

Pro Football Network has Pittsburgh dealing with growing pains

Blessed by fire could have been the title for this section of Pro Football Focus’s article. The Bills have one of the best defenses in the NFL and will be getting after Pickett for most of the game. The Steelers offensive line has performed decent to this point of the season, but they will probably struggle to withhold this defensive unit all day.

Prediction: Bills win the game and cover their bets

Buffalo is highly favored to win this contest as they currently are 14-point favorites over the black and gold. That is the biggest deficit that Pittsburgh has been entering a game in many years. The tough battle for a rookie to go up against one of the best defenses in the league for his first start is throwing him into the fire. Pickett will either get out charred or barely scathed.

Yahoo Sports team has a consensus pick to win this game

Finally, we have Yahoo Sports which has brought together all their experts to weigh in their opinions. Thirteen experts, plus a consensus pick, have given their choice of who they think will win this contest. No reasoning was given out by any of the experts, but not many chose the Steelers to win.

Prediction: Bills were picked to win 12 out of 13 predictions

Out of the 13 experts that made a prediction for who would win this game, only one has the black and gold coming out on top. That is a humbling result as the consensus pick also went in the Bills favor as well. The Steelers are a worse team, and they should lose this game but upsets are why automatic wins are not handed out and contests need to be played.

Final prediction has the Steelers losing against a good team

Not many outcomes seem to be resulting in Pittsburgh’s favor in this one. They will need to somehow throw the Bills off their rhythm on offense and take advantage of every opportunity given for a chance to win. The Steelers have upset Buffalo before, so it is not completely out of the realm of possibility, but it is very unlikely.

Prediction: Bills 35, Steelers 24

There should be a Pickett-affect to this offense that can move them down the field. His play against the Jets was promising despite the turnovers and he can have a nice day with a losing result. The black and gold’s defense is playing very bad, and they could be without more starters this week than last, which will lead to Allen and company having a field day.

The Steelers are not favored to win this game, which is not always a terrible thing. Buffalo is the better club and should be able to deploy their offense against Pittsburgh’s banged-up defense all day.