Our long day of NFL action concludes with Sunday Night Football as the Pittsburgh Steelers (5-2) move west to take on the Detroit Lions (3-3) at Ford Field.
SNF will be brought to you by the friendly folks at NBC at 8:30 p.m. EST. I’ll be live blogging this one with you the whole way here at GetMoreSports.com.
The Game: Pittsburgh Steelers at Detroit Lions (+3)
O/U: 45.5
The History
The Lions and Steelers have played 31 times since 1934. Pittsburgh leads the all time series 16-14-1.
The Steelers have won the last four match ups between the two teams going back to December 23, 2001. Their last win came on November 17, 2013. Ben Roethlisberger outdueld Matthew Stafford with a 29 of 45 day for 367 yards and four touchdowns in a 37-27 win. Stafford was 19 of 46 for 362 yards, two touchdowns and a pick.
PITTSBURGH STEELERS (5-2)
Two weeks after being left for dead from a blowout loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Steelers are not only back to life, they might be the best team in the AFC. If you want to point to a guy who’s made all the difference for Pittsburgh over the last couple of Sundays, look no further than Le’Veon Bell. Last week the All-Universe running back carried the ball 35 times for 134 yards and caught three passes for 58 yards. When Bell’s on, everything’s on for the Steelers.
Still, it’s not all good vibes in the Pittsburgh clubhouse. Wide receiver Martavis Bryant has been griping about his role with the team and has even angled for a trade. I doubt that would happen with his drug suspension history, so he’ll just have to tough it out this season and shut his mouth so he can play. With Bryant benched for most of last week, rookie JuJu Smith-Schuster caught two passes for 39 yards and a touchdown.
Bryant’s lack of catches comes from Ben Roethlisberger’s struggles throwing downfield. He had a decent week against the Cincinnati Bengals, completing 14 of 24 for 224 yards and two touchdowns, but he’s living on a lot of intermediate stuff. He’d be served by offering a few up to Bryant to see what happens.
On defense, the Steelers forced two turnovers, four sacks and seven stops in the backfield. They’ll be without Stephon Tuitt again on the line. Vance McDonald is out with a knee on offense. Marcus Gilbert’s hamstring is still bothering him and he won’t play.
DETROIT LIONS (3-3)
The Lions just had a bye week to soak their asses in an ice bath after a ridiculous spanking at the hands of the New Orleans Saints. Detroit literally gave the game away to New Orleans, surrendering a fumble return for a touchdown, a punt return for a touchdown and two interceptions returned for a touchdown. It was an outright atrocity.
What did the Lions learn from the film? Don’t let the other team score with your ball? Didn’t they know that already?
Was there anything good to take from the game? Some. The Lions defense picked off Drew Brees twice and even scored on one of his interceptions. They held the Saints to just 2-of-12 on third downs and only allowed 186 yards and two touchdowns passing.
There was a lot more bad, obviously. Stafford did pass for 312 yards and three touchdowns to go with his disastrous three picks. Both of the team’s lost fumbles belonged to Stafford, so that gave him five turnovers and three touchdowns for the other team. Stafford can shit the bed this thoroughly once a season. Hell, every quarterback does, but a bounce back is required to fix it.
Greg Robinson, Kenny Golladay and Emmett Cleary are all listed as out on the injury report. Everybody else practiced this week.
The Pick
The Lions have taken a dive since Jim Caldwell signed his contract extension. I’m not sure the two are connected, but it won’t matter this week. Pittsburgh is on a roll and Detroit is swooning. Steelers 27, Lions 23
This week
Straight up: 0-1
Against the spread: 0-1
Last week
Straight up: 12-3
Against the spread: 7-8
Season
Straight up: 60-46
Against the spread: 50-56
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