The winless Pittsburgh Steelers take on the unbeaten Chicago Bears in the Week 3 edition of Sunday Night Football. NBC will be on the call for this one, kicking off at 8:30 pm ET.
- When:
Sun., Sept. 22nd, 2013 @ 8:30pm ET
- Where:
Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, PA
- Who’s Favored?
Bears by 2 ~ 40 o/u @ BetOnline
- More Info:
It’s hard to say that a game in Week 3 of the season would be a must-win, but for the Steelers it just might be. Pittsburgh sits at 0-2 on the season and is staring 0-3 in the face. That has proven to be very difficult for a team to overcome if they have any aspirations to make the playoffs.
It’s been the offense that has struggled big time this season. The Steelers rank 27th in passing, and next-to-last in rushing, averaging a whopping 37.5 yards per game. Think about that. Pittsburgh essentially has zero run game, putting everything on Ben Roethlisberger’s shoulders.
The problem is that the wide receiving corps for the Steelers isn’t that great either. It’s combined into scoring nine points in Week 1, and 10 points in Week 2. That will not win any games going forward and puts entirely too much pressure on the defense.
The Bears meanwhile are enjoying some nice success. They are 2-0 and are getting a great balance on offense and defense. The best part is that quarterback Jay Cutler is staying upright, with an improved offensive line.
It was a close Week 2 win over Minnesota 31-30, but Chicago got it done and now looks for a 3-0 start. The key here will be Cutler and not making turnovers to give the bad Pittsburgh offense the chance to play on a short field.
Pittsburgh has shown no signs of coming back, but need to try and create some holes to run the ball through, or there is no reason for the Bears to respect the run.