9/24/20-Houston Texans at Pittsburgh Steelers

By: Mike Pelaia

The 2-0 Pittsburgh Steelers host the 0-2 Houston Texans this Sunday at Heinz Field in front of a crowd of, well, nobody. 

Despite their 0-2 record, the Texans are a dangerous team and one that will come in hungry, trying at all costs to avoid an 0-3 record which will significantly diminish the odds of them appearing in the post season this year. 

The Steelers have looked good on offense at times but also sloppy at others.  The Texans defense is allowing 33.5 points per game through the first two weeks and have looked particularly weak in their pass coverage. I fully expect the Steelers to spread the field and Big Ben Roethlisberger to distribute the ball to multiple receivers with Diontae Johnson being the big play guy again this week. 

Since Benny Snell can’t hang onto the ball, Mike Tomlin has him in the dog house which clears the way for James Conner to be the back with the most carries and it will be interesting to see what he does with that opportunity.  I’ve been off the Conner bandwagon for two seasons now and despite his gaudy numbers from last week, I remain off of it.  More than half of his yards were on one carry, if you took it away, he averaged 3.1 YPC against the Broncos, which isn’t good. 

I believe Anthony McFarland will finally be active this week and may see some action on long passing downs. 

The offensive line and perhaps Derek Watt, will need to ensure they keep JJ Watt away from Roethlisberger.  What  a reunion that could be, seeing Derek Watt pancake JJ Watt. 

On defense, the black and gold will have their hands full containing Deshaun Watson. Normally the Steelers like to blitz the opposition but I believe they would be better served sitting back. If Watson scrambles, he can go for dozens of yards at once and kill a team.  I think the key to success is keeping him the pocket and relying on the secondary to do their jobs.

Even though the records indicate this should be an easy win for the Steelers, it won’t be and Watson is a big reason why but at the end of the day, I trust the Steelers to get the job done and pull this one out with a 33-27 victory.

9/15/20-Steelers Stifle Giants, On To Denver

By: Mike Pelaia

 

The much anticipated return of Ben Roethlisberger against the New York Giants on Monday Night Football ended in a Pittsburgh Steelers victory to open the 2020 season and the chase for Lombardi number seven has officially begun.

Despite not seeing game action in a full calendar year, Roethlisberger looked good, throwing for 229 yards and three touchdowns. The most important part about Roethlisberger’s return was the fluidity of the offense as he sliced and diced the Giants defense in a two minute drill that was nearly flawless.

Big Ben is capable of spreading the ball to all of his receivers and I believe that is something this offense will need to continue to do as the season progresses. Eight different guys caught the all on Monday Night and it was evident that JuJu Smith-Schuster was rejuvenated as Roethlisberger was able to get him the ball six times, including two touchdowns. 

The return of Roethlisberger wasn’t the only exciting thing fans of the Steelers got to watch against New York; the defense was once again stifling and rabid. They held Saquon Barkley, one of the premier backs in football to a pitiful six yards on fifteen caries.  They forced two interceptions and had eleven tackles behind the line of scrimmage.  Bud Dupree was stellar and proved he deserved the franchise tag this year and plans to be paid this coming offseason. 

As the team prepares for their home opener against the 0-1 Denver Broncos, they’re immediately going to have to figure out who will be playing on the offensive line in in place of Zach Banner who appears significantly injured as well Stefen Wisniewski who went down with an injury and was already playing in place of the injured David Decastro.  In all likelihood Chuks Okarofor can step in and play for Banner but I look for some free agent o-lineman to be in Pittsburgh this week as well; the line already looks depleted one game into the season.

Against the Broncos, Benny Snell needs to be the main back.  James Conner was injured once again and even if he were healthy, I’d be pushing for Snell to be the guy.  He runs the ball more effectively than Conner, finds the holes quicker and has a burst of speed that Conner seems to lack.  Snell should see the ball 25 times against the Broncos this coming week and I’d expect him to average at least four yards per carry. 

Roethlisberger will need to continue getting all his receivers involved in the game and I’d really like to see more production out of Eric Ebron moving forward. I think Ebron will be a key to the success of the Steelers when they play Denver this coming week.  Pittsburgh needs to spread the Broncos defense wide by pushing out four receivers; Smith-Schuster, Diontae Johnson, James Washington and Chase Claypool, freeing up the middle for Eric Ebron and possibly Jaylen Samuels or Anthony McFarland out of the backfield on third down plays. In doing so, this offense will score points in droves.

Defensively, the Steelers face another dynamic running back, Melvin Gordon, who they will need to stop first. The Broncos want to feed Gordon the ball, protecting their young quarterback Drew Lock and if the Steelers can stuff Gordon as they did Barkely, Lock is going to have to be the guy to beat them.  The Steelers did show they are capable of giving up passing yards and have some weaknesses on third down defense at times so they will need to blitz Lock with fury and expect to see TJ Watt and Bud Dupree in the Broncos backfield all afternoon. 

The Broncos are a younger team at their skill positions and can easily be rattled, however with a lack of a home crowd in the stadium, the Steelers will have to rattle them and intimidate them on their own, flustering the 0-1 Denver team into mistakes and ideally putting the game away early. 

If the Steelers can overcome the injuries on the offensive line, keep Big Ben upright and healthy, run the ball with an average of four yards a carry and stuff Melvin Gordon, they should win this game in a cakewalk. 

I’m looking for an easy victory, 31-13 Steelers and a 2-0 start.  

9/11/20-Pittsburgh Steelers at NY Giants

By: Mike Pelaia

The much anticipated 2020 NFL season is about to kickoff and the Pittsburgh Steelers journey back to the playoffs begins on Monday Night Football in New York against the Giants.  New York comes in with very low expectations as many experts predict them to be last in the NFC East.

Contrarily, many people see big things coming for the black and gold but a lot of that hinges upon the health of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger as he makes his much anticipated return to the field after his season ended prematurely in week three last season.

I think the Steelers will try to ease Big Ben into the game as they hope to ramp up their running game but against a stellar defensive line, I don’t look for much success out of starting running back James Conner.  I’d like to see rookie Anthony McFarland become a change of pace guy to help Roethlisberger and the offense pick up the short screens and quick burst runs.

I am anticipating a big game from new tight end Eric Ebron and ultimately I think the offense will take a half to click and gel but will get it going in the second half once Roethlisberger gets some of the game rust knocked off.

It will be interesting to watch new starting right tackle Zach Banner try to prove his worth. I know he’s a fan favorite but I’m not in that group. I don’t think the guy is good enough to be a starter and think he may be a problem for the Steelers as the season progresses.  David DeCastro won’t play this week and neither will Diontae Johnson, which helps the Giants out tremendously.

Defensively, the team will stuff the box so as not to allow Saquon Barkley and inch and force Daniel Jones to beat them. I look for a heavy rush from TJ Watt, who will gain three sacks this game and Bud Dupree who will gain two. Ultimately, the new Steel Curtain will dominate this game and not allow a touchdown.

I think the Steelers come out and win this game, with a close first half and pulling away in the second half with a 24 – 9 victory.