Confidence isn’t exactly sky high or at anything resembling dynasty days level in New England after a tumultuous preseason and lackluster Week One loss for the Patriots in Miami. Now, before their home opener, they travel to Pittsburgh to take on a Steelers team that showed some defensive grit in a stunning 23-20 overtime win in Cincinnati. This is the Steelers' home opener, so emotions in the first season post-Big Ben Roethlisberger should be running pretty high. And yet somehow the Patriots are a two-point favorite. Must be a belief in Bill Belichick bouncing back from an opening week defeat (Belichick is 28-11 in the game that follows a double-digit loss). That and his 12-4 record vs. the Steelers since taking over as HC of the NEP.
An interesting wrinkle to this latest entry of Pats/Stillers could be former Pats defensive coordinator Brian Flores as a defensive assistant to the Steelers. Flores gave the Pats trouble during his three-year head coaching stint in Miami, as did his former DC and former Pats assistant, Josh Boyer, who’s still the DC in Miami and blitzed Mac Jones’ face-off last week. It’s hardly like the Greatest Show on Turf 2.0 is coming to Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh this week, and Flores knows Belichick all too well. Even with TJ Watt on IR the Steelers have a feisty, aggressive defense. yet on offense, it’s Mitch Trubisky and a slightly hampered Najee Harris leading the black & gold attack. We all might need a Terrible Towel to cry into while watching this one.
OK, so it seems we’re all expecting a bit of a slog by the Allegheny Sunday. But what are the experts saying? Perhaps some positive Pats predictions will bring confidence or at least some comfort to a leery Pats Nation. Here’s a roundup of the local and national voices making a call in Sunday’s AFC showdown.
ESPN’s Mike Reiss - Pats 20, Steelers 17
ESPN’s “Get Up!” - 3 out of 4 pick the Steelers (the lone Pats pick belonging to Rob Ninkovich)
ESPN’s FPI (Football Power Index) - Steelers, 50.3% (by an avg of just .1 points)
CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco - Pats 21, Steelers 20
CBS Sports’ Will Brinson - Pats 13, Steelers 7
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio - Steelers 20, Pats 13
The Sporting News - Pats 20, Steelers 17
NFL.com’s Gregg Rosenthal - Steelers 20, Pats 17
Bleacher Report - All seven writers pick Steelers. Score: Steelers 23, Pats 20
USA Today Sports - Five out of seven writers take Pittsburgh over New England
The Washington Post - Pats over Steelers
The Ringer’s Sheil Kapadia - Pats over Steelers
The NY Times - Steelers over Pats
Seems the only thing the experts, analysts and prognosticators can agree on is that this is going to be a close one, with points at a premium Sunday. Get your snacks and beverages on the ready, Pats fans. We’re in for a grind in a borderline “must win” affair for the Pats so early in the season.
