Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers are going to need their offense to return to the form that we have are expecting. Their passing game seemed to be the only facet of their offense last season, but Najee Harris could change that entirely. Harris is going to combine with Benny Snell Jr. in the backfield to work behind an average offensive line against a Buffalo defensive front that was ranked 17th in the league last season. When it comes to the passing game, Pittsburgh has more than enough talent. Ben Roethlisberger is returning for yet another season and looked fantastic during a couple of preseason drives. He has Juju Smith-Schuster, Chase Claypool and Diontae Johnson running routes for him this year with Harris to take some pressure off his shoulders. The Pittsburgh defense is fantastic with a bunch of stars such as Minkah Fitzpatrick and T.J. Watt and should handle Josh Allen and the Bills nicely here. I would say that the Steelers offense is the determining factor for them if they want to win this ball game.
Buffalo Bills
The Bills are in a similar situation. Will their defense be able to contain Roethlisberger and the rest of this high-powered offense? Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs will be able to get points onto the board at some point in this game but at some point, their defense will have to slow down the Steelers. It isn’t in their best interest to get into a shootout at home in their season opener. Luckily, Buffalo has big names such as Tre’Davious White, Micah Hyde, Tremaine Edmunds, and Jerry Hughes to keep Pittsburgh honest in both the pass and run game. It isn’t talked about enough, but this Buffalo secondary is truly one of the fastest units in the entire NFL. Their speed and agility are something that teams simply don’t account for heading into the game and it is where they catch opponents by surprise.
Keep an eye on Emmanuel Sanders in this contest. I would say that he is going to be the key player to watch here. Sanders is a Super Bowl-winning wide receiver who will be joining forces with Diggs and Allen in that dangerous passing attack we mentioned earlier. It seems like he is always productive no matter what team he is on and could end up being targeted a lot if Pittsburgh attempts to take Diggs out of the game early on.
This is probably going to end up being a low scoring game as these teams played each other last season and couldn’t get in the end zone much at all. Pittsburgh has a load of potential offensively, but I just can’t ignore the recent success that Buffalo has had and the downfall the Steelers had towards the end of 2020. I would roll with Buffalo in this matchup.
Regardless of the final score though, it will be fantastic to finally get football back and rolling once again. It feels like it has been ages since we last saw our favourite teams out on the gridiron. And nothing beats getting together with friends to catch it – in fact, why not make that your new Sunday tradition!
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