Date: Sunday, Sept. 18, 2022
Matchup: AFC East vs. AFC North
Venue: Acrisure Stadium
Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Time-TV: CBS, 1:00 p.m. ET
The Steelers hit the road for their Week 1 matchup against Cincinnati as seven-point underdogs, which was tied for the widest spread on the board with Texans-Colts, as Houston also hit the road as seven-point underdogs against Indianapolis last Sunday. However, neither contest played out as expected, as the Texans escaped Indy with a 20-20 tie, while the Steelers scratched and clawed their way to a 23-20 OT victory against the reigning AFC champs.
On the other hand, New England received far more love from the oddsmakers heading into Week 1, as the Patriots were just three-point road underdogs in Miami last week. However, last week’s showing was arguably their worst offensive performance of the Mac Jones era thus far, as the Patriots scored just seven points on 271 total yards and turned the ball over three times in an ugly double-digit loss to the Dolphins.
New England here, as the Steelers’ Week 1 win over Cincy was a bit fluky, as the Bengals’ offense scored just 20 PTS on 432 total yards thanks to Joe Burrow’s five turnovers in the contest (4 INT, 1 FL); but to give credit where credit is due, a few of those turnovers were caused by stellar defensive plays by Pittsburgh. Despite their enormous advantage in the turnover department, Mitch Trubisky and the Steelers’ offense still barely escaped with a victory in Week 1, and I doubt we’ll see them get quite as many freebies against Bill Belichick’s squad in Week 2, especially in the absence of reigning Defensive Player of the Year T.J. Watt. On the other side the two defenses should work well and we should see under the totals here.