Blitzburgh Pick’em: Week 10

This week the New England Patriots (6-2) come to town to face the Pittsburgh Steelers (6-2) in a game that is sure to have playoff implications, as well as putting the winner in great position to contend for home-field advantage throughout. Continue reading to see what our writers have to think bout his game and the rest of the Week 10 games. 

Bam:

I’d expect to see Tom Brady complete a lot of passes against the Steelers defense so Big Ben & Co. are going to have to score some points this week. The good news is that the Patriots defense is not very good. The Steelers will withstand another 4th quarter comeback.

Steelers 27 Pats 21

Brian:

The Steelers are 0-1 this season when playing a team coming off a loss to the Browns. What a statistic. I don’t think it’s outrageous to think three weeks of primetime might wear on the team, and the Patriots’ fabled 4th quarter offense is significantly better than the Steelers’ trend of 4th quarter defense. Pittsburgh likes to burn me when I pick against them, but I’m fine with being wrong if they win.

Pats 21 Steelers 13

George:

Here are the rankings in offense, defense, and special teams for the Steelers and Patriots from Football Outsiders and Advanced NFL Stats:

The two systems unanimously rate New England’s defense as being subpar. The big question is how both offenses will fare. If the Steelers’ o-line was healthy, I’d be more inclined to believe Advanced NFL Stats’ rankings. It’s impressive that the Patriots have stayed atop Football Outsiders’ offensive rankings even after trading away Randy Moss. Football Outsiders’ premium picks rate the Steelers a slight favorite, while Advanced NFL Stats gives the Steelers an 85% chance to win.

In the end, I think it’ll be a week of growing pains for the Steelers’ o-line, but they’ll still pull out the win at home, with the help of special teams once again.

Steelers 28 Patriots 24

Matt:

The Pittsburgh Steelers and the New England Patriots. These teams are consistently seen as two of the class franchises in the NFL and deservedly so, they have combined to win 5 of the 10 Lombardi trophies last decade (2000-2009).

If you listened to our podcast this week you heard our views on the Steelers vs. Patriots rivalry. I personally think the rivalry still exists because history makes a rivalry…and there is a ton of it between these two teams. The most telling stat to me is the fact that since 2001, the Steelers and Pats have met six times…five of those years; the winner went on to the Super Bowl. Rivalry or not, both teams know that when they play each other there are usually huge implications. Year after year, the winner of the Steelers/Patriots match-up seems to be either #1 or #2 in the AFC. This year will probably be no different.

I think this game, the third primetime game for the Steelers in three weeks, is actually one of the easier match-ups…at least on paper. The Steelers have had success this year in their running game, and I think it’s only getting better as teams are being forced to respect Ben and the Passing game. On the other side of the ball, the Steel Curtain has been great and very consistent…however has had some 4^th quarter breakdowns. The loss of Smith has also taken a toll, but the Steelers should still have enough talent and depth to compete.

The Patriots still have Brady, and therefore still have a great offense, but are lacking a big play receiver. Also the run game should be non-existent this Sunday night against a defense that has not allowed a 100-yard runner all year. On defense, we are seeing something totally new for the Patriots… young players. They got beat up last week against the Browns, and they have to feel scared going against the Steelers offense. Because they are so young, they are fast, and can close quickly…but they also seem to get out of position a lot and give up too many big plays. I think that this is the match-up that the Steelers will really try to exploit…and maybe the one thing that truly separates these teams.

Mendenhall and the Steelers have a big night…

Steelers 31 Patriots 17

Below are the Staff Picks for the rest of this week’s games.

STAFF PICKS

Bye Week: Packers, Saints, Raiders, and Chargers