Two of the league’s best players to start this young season will be on the field for this one, as the NFL’s third-leading receiver, Antonio Brown (523 yards, 2 TDs), and the Pittsburgh Steelers (3-2) meet second-leading rusher, Chris Johnson (405 yards, 2 TDs), and the Arizona Cardinals (4-1). The game will begin Sunday, Oct 18 at 1:00 p.m. ET and can be seen on FOX.
Pittsburgh notched a win over the Chargers 24-20 last week. Le’Veon Bell had an outstanding performance on the ground in the win, gaining 111 yards and one TD on 21 carries. Arizona also picked up the win last week, easily getting past the Lions 42-17. Carson Palmer had a big game passing the ball for the Cardinals, completing 11 of 14 passes for 161 yards and three TDs.
Arizona is a three-point favorite in this game and the Over/Under (O/U) is set at 44 points.
The Steelers enter the game with records of 3-2 Straight Up (SU) and 3-0-2 Against The Spread (ATS) this season. A big source of success for the Steelers this season is the running game, where they average 4.6 yards per carry. As for the Pittsburgh defense, there are important areas to keep an eye on. Don’t expect Arizona to have much success throwing the ball against the Steelers. The Cardinals average 171.5 passing yards per road game, 29th in the NFL. Based on its tendencies, the Arizona defense might give up an early score. The Cardinals allow their opponents an average of seven points per road game in the first 15 minutes.
As for their opponent, the Cardinals have 4-1 SU and ATS records this season. Offensively,they average 45 points per road game, which is the best in the league. Based on their success in earlier games, the Cardinals will look to use its running attack on offense. They average 151 rushing yards per road game, good enough for second in the NFL. The Cardinals could take advantage of Pittsburgh’s tendency to allow points late in games. They are 26th in the NFL in fourth-quarter points allowed with 9.4. Pittsburgh tends to lose the time of possession battle in matchups, averaging a time of 29:10 for 27th in the league.
Predictions: SU Winner – Ari, ATS Winner – Ari, O/U – Over
Notes
Pittsburgh is 7-3 SU in its last 10 games.
Pittsburgh is 7-1-2 ATS in its last 10 games.
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Pittsburgh’s last 5 games.
The total has gone OVER in 10 of Pittsburgh’s last 15 games at home.
Pittsburgh is 12-5 SU in its last 17 games at home.
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Pittsburgh’s last 7 games when playing Arizona.
Arizona is 4-0 SU this season, when leading at the half. Pittsburgh is 2-1 SU when taking a lead into halftime.
When it comes to passing this year, Arizona is rated higher on both sides of the ball. Its 10th-ranked passing attack will face the 20th-ranked pass defense of Pittsburgh, while its 13th-ranked pass defense will look to limit the 19th-ranked passing game of the Steelers.
Arizona has only allowed 20.0 points per game on the road, which is ranked 13th in the league. Pittsburgh, however, has put up 31.5 points per contest at home (ranked fourth overall).
