The Pittsburgh Steelers will have a rare meeting with the
Washington Redskins in an inter-conference Monday Night matchup for week 1 of
the new season. These two teams haven’t played each other in Maryland since
2008, and the Steelers have beaten Washington the last five times they’ve
played. Sports Interaction’s NFL
odds on this game are taking these facts into
consideration, as the Steelers
are -170 favorites.
Last year, the Steelers went 10-6 only to lose in the playoffs to
the Broncos, who would eventually win the Super Bowl. Current odds have them as
+120 favorites to win the AFC North. Now, they will play their first regular
game of the season with a couple of glaring holes in their roster. They are
missing their star running back La’Veon Bell to a three-game suspension, and
wide receiver Martavis Bryant who will be gone for a year on
suspension.
That’s not their only problem. Last season the Steelers were 30th
in the league in pass defense, giving up 271 yards per game. Pittsburgh isn’t
exactly deep with talent on the secondary, and with a roll call of rookies
filling in for injured cornerback Senquez Golson, they’ll likely struggle again
this season.
Secondary issues aside, the Steelers aren’t really a team in
trouble. DeAngelo Williams is more than a sufficient replacement for Le’veon
Bell, and Roethlisberger is healthy, and, according to Mr. Terry Bradshaw, a
better passer than Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady. Roethlisberger was injured and
out for four games last year but averaged a league-high 328 passing yards per
game and had 21 touchdowns.
Washington won the NFC East last year, making this matchup a solid
one, and perhaps not the easy win for Roethlisberger and company that the odds
suggest. There’s been some discussion about whether we’ll see rookie WR Josh
Doctson making his debut, and head coach Jay Gruden suggested as much in
interviews. Running back Matt Jones ,who injured his shoulder in the preseason,
has been cleared to go against Pittsburgh.
The Pittsburgh defense will have it’s hands full against a Redskins
offense fronted by Kirk Cousins and his formidable stable of receivers. Cousins
had an excellent second half to his season last year (in the last six games his
quarterback rating was over 100) and will be trying to build on that success
against a less than stellar defense on Monday night. Not only that, Washington
will be looking to prove that the end of last season was no fluke, and defeating
one of the most reliable teams in the league, right out of the gates, would do
just that. The Redskins are currently listed as +240
to win the NFC East this season.
One of the matchups most fans will be excited to see in this game
will be between the highest paid cornerback in the league, Josh Norman, and
Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown, who had 136 receptions last
season.
Monday Night Football Prediction Pittsburgh Steelers are the play.
