The Detroit Lions (3-3) will receive the Pittsburgh Steelers (5-2) for the Sunday Night Game at Ford Field. The hosts needed a win in the race for the playoffs, but this would not be an easy task against a Pittsburgh team with a rising form curve. The game will be shown live on DAZN during the night on Monday (from 1.25 a. m.).
“The Sky is the Limit,”Steelers linebacker Bud Dupree said after winning against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 7. After a disastrous performance by Ben Roethlisberger against the Jacksonville Jaguars, a game in which the star quarterback experienced five interceptions, the mood in Pittsburgh is really good again with two convincing games. An euphoria that came about through collective performance enhancements.
During the week, this was disrupted by the situation and finally the degradation of Martavis Bryant into the Scout Team, which is supposed to serve the regulars primarily as preparation for their future opponents. The Steelers have been patient with Bryant for the past two years: four positive drug tests have put him on suspension for the entire 2016 season, but the franchise decided to continue counting on the receiver.
After Bryant’s call for more deployment time despite poor performance, the people in charge felt compelled to give him a break for the time being. Even though head coach Mike Tomlin initially assured Bryant that he did not want to trade on Tuesday, a change to another franchise could still be imminent before the deadline next Tuesday.
All the noise shouldn’t hide the fact that the Steelers are currently running a hot offense. Running Back Le’ Veon Bell, for example, stood at 371 yards after five games played, and in the last two games alone he managed to win 313 of them. The Run Game is dominating, Bell is overwhelmed with touches and Big Ben also made up his misses: Three touchdowns at one interception stand for Roethlisberger over the same period of time.
The third killer of the B’s, Antonio Brown, leads the league with 765 receiving yards. Second placed A. J. Green has saved over 200 yards of space. All have contributed to the success of the Steelers’ Opense, and the Lions’ ever-changing defense will be warned.
But what’s surprising is the strong performance of Steelers-Defense. Against Kansas City and Cincinnati, the Steel Curtain allowed only 28 and 71 rushing yards respectively, compared to an average of 137 yards in the previous five weeks.”The problem is that the defense is currently playing extremely well against passports, but also against the Rush,”said Lions quarterback Matt Stafford about the strength of the Steelers Defense.
The Steelers also lead the league in opposing yards per play and scored an average of only 16.6 points per game. The Lions quarterback was also shown over the pass rush around Dupree and Rookie T. J. While the Lions Defense only puts pressure on the opposing quarterback with every fifth snap (31st place in the NFL), the Steelers Line manages to do this in about 30 percent of the placements (7th place).
This is a difficult task for the Lions, who made five turnovers in their last game against the New Orleans Saints (three of them even brought the Saints to the Lions’ final zone). Detroit lost the crazy shootout at 52:38 and again the glaring problems were revealed in the line. Last week, Head Coach Jim Caldwell’s team was not in action.
The Lions, who are known for their strong offense against Stafford, the league’s highest paid player, have recently set their sights on Big Plays. For moves with 20 or more yards of space, the Lions are only 26th in the league. Place.
But that’s no reason for Stafford to worry:”Big Plays come about in many different ways. You can’t force it. His opponent Roethlisberger is also aware of this, and advises his defense:”You’d better stay a few meters further back, because Stafford can throw the ball a hell of a long way.”
Stafford will probably have to give up one of his favourite goals against the Steelers. Golden Tate is injured on the shoulder and more than questionable for Sunday, so Marvin Jones is likely to see more balls. Tight End Eric Ebron, who has not been able to convince at all (26 targets, 102 yards, TD) could also get a part of the workload.
“He’s a guy who can deliver Big Plays at any time,” Tomlin said about Ebron,”You have to ask yourself how you want to defend him: he’s too big for a defensive back, but too athletic for a linebacker.
As Stafford gets little relief from the Lions once again through the Run Game and the opponents are more likely to get used to pass plots, the protection of the O-Line has to work. This has not always been the case in the last few games and even led to an ankle injury to her quarterback, which has survived over the Bye-Week.
Lions kicker Matt Prater could play a crucial role if the game gets into a tight closing phase. The 33-year-old, who holds the record for the longest field goal in NFL history at 64 yards, has extended his contract with Lions for another three years during the week.
If it’s the Steelers, the duel with the Lions shouldn’t become a stumbling block, because the goals are bigger “The Sky is the Limit, but not even that. We just go further,”is Dupree’s battle cry.
Detroit Lions (3-3) – Pittsburgh Steelers (5-2) (Monday, 1:25 a. m. live on DAZN)
The SPOX NFL Predictor, Week 8:
Pascal
De Marco
60-46