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ATL96Steeler
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Back to back road wins...6-5, tied for the lead in the DIV race...obviously not where we want them to be, but as popular saying goes..."it is what it is". All of us who watch this team on a regular basis are still unsure about this group. The last two weeks have been good, but if we're keeping it real, they should've won those two games.
The test against an accomplished QB that we thought was going to be last week comes this week in the form of 2 time SB winner Eli Manning. Certainly more accomplished than Luck, but maybe easier to defend because he's not as mobile. We get to see just where this DEF is right now.
Injuries
Harrison (concussion) I had not heard this, so I was little surprised to see him listed. The slap on the head by Walton after a good play last week seemed to stun him a little, but I didn't think it was serious. Just going off the way the league handles concussed players today, we might not see him this week...hope that's not the case. Mitchell (stinger)...DWill (knee) Grimble (quad), S. Thomas (groin)...on this early report I saw has them all listed as questionable. We'll have to follow this closely as the weekend nears.
This game
The Giants come into PIT 8-3 winners of 6 straight games. They rank 21st on OFC and 5th on DEF (points)...they spent a lot of FA money on DEF bringing in Vernon @ DE and Jenkins and Hall @ CB...of course JPP is still a playmaker and he leads the team in sacks...on OFC, they don't run the ball real well which is a little unusual for a northeast team, but Beckman, Cruz, and Shepard are all dangerous players.
This will be a challenge for the OL...Gilbert vs JPP will be a good match up to watch and Vernon has come on strong the last few games so AVill will have his work cut out as well...when you peel back a few layers of their season, of the 6 straight wins, 4 have come against teams with losing records. Secondly, they have not faced an OFC as good as PIT in any of those games...that kind of explains why Vegas likes PIT +6...a little high for me to be laying any cheese but I do like the the matchup to favor the Steelers at home a little.
On OFC, the key will be trench play...keep Ben upright and I think Haley can attack the Giants LBs with Green and Bell...Bell/Nix combo looked pretty good last week...I expect to see them challenge the Giants front 7 with the run. No CB can handle AB 1 on 1 with no safety help, it will be interesting to see how the Giants defend him.
On DEF, admittedly, I'm concerned as always with this group. Manning is a seasoned QB, I don't think Butler can rush 4 and play zone behind it the whole game and keep this team below 24 pts...maybe not a steady diet of it against those WRs, but he's going to have to mix it up and bring heat and play some man behind it on a occasion.
Strange, their DEF is ranked higher than their OFC, but I'm more fearful of their OFC vs the Steeler DEF...that said, I can see a lot of footballs in the air in this game...I don't feel like the Steelers OL will be dominated nor will they dominate the NY DL, but as long as they keep the run game in play to take some edge off the pass rushers, I like PIT in this one...28-24.
What say you?
The test against an accomplished QB that we thought was going to be last week comes this week in the form of 2 time SB winner Eli Manning. Certainly more accomplished than Luck, but maybe easier to defend because he's not as mobile. We get to see just where this DEF is right now.
Injuries
Harrison (concussion) I had not heard this, so I was little surprised to see him listed. The slap on the head by Walton after a good play last week seemed to stun him a little, but I didn't think it was serious. Just going off the way the league handles concussed players today, we might not see him this week...hope that's not the case. Mitchell (stinger)...DWill (knee) Grimble (quad), S. Thomas (groin)...on this early report I saw has them all listed as questionable. We'll have to follow this closely as the weekend nears.
This game
The Giants come into PIT 8-3 winners of 6 straight games. They rank 21st on OFC and 5th on DEF (points)...they spent a lot of FA money on DEF bringing in Vernon @ DE and Jenkins and Hall @ CB...of course JPP is still a playmaker and he leads the team in sacks...on OFC, they don't run the ball real well which is a little unusual for a northeast team, but Beckman, Cruz, and Shepard are all dangerous players.
This will be a challenge for the OL...Gilbert vs JPP will be a good match up to watch and Vernon has come on strong the last few games so AVill will have his work cut out as well...when you peel back a few layers of their season, of the 6 straight wins, 4 have come against teams with losing records. Secondly, they have not faced an OFC as good as PIT in any of those games...that kind of explains why Vegas likes PIT +6...a little high for me to be laying any cheese but I do like the the matchup to favor the Steelers at home a little.
On OFC, the key will be trench play...keep Ben upright and I think Haley can attack the Giants LBs with Green and Bell...Bell/Nix combo looked pretty good last week...I expect to see them challenge the Giants front 7 with the run. No CB can handle AB 1 on 1 with no safety help, it will be interesting to see how the Giants defend him.
On DEF, admittedly, I'm concerned as always with this group. Manning is a seasoned QB, I don't think Butler can rush 4 and play zone behind it the whole game and keep this team below 24 pts...maybe not a steady diet of it against those WRs, but he's going to have to mix it up and bring heat and play some man behind it on a occasion.
Strange, their DEF is ranked higher than their OFC, but I'm more fearful of their OFC vs the Steeler DEF...that said, I can see a lot of footballs in the air in this game...I don't feel like the Steelers OL will be dominated nor will they dominate the NY DL, but as long as they keep the run game in play to take some edge off the pass rushers, I like PIT in this one...28-24.
What say you?