The Pittsburgh Steelers have been on an impressive six game winning streak, while the Green Bay Packers have been ice cold since the loss of their future Hall of Fame Quarterback Aaron Rodgers for the season. The game will take place this Sunday at 6:30 ET in Pittsburgh at Heinz Field.
The Steelers are facing several disappointing injuries going into the game, with Pro Bowl DB Joe Haden on the sidelines, along with backup TE Vance McDonald and red hot rookie WR JuJu Smith-Schuster. However, the Packers are in a much tougher situation regarding their injuries. Only one player so far is definitely out for the week being one of their starting RBs Aaron Jones. Doubtful to play is their other starting RB Ty Montgomery and DT Kenny Clark. The laundry list of names that fall under the questionable category consists of names like SS Morgan Burnett and LB Clay Matthews to name a couple. It is obvious to see that the Packers are going to have to put this game in the hands of their backups.
Some key players the Steelers must utilize is the unstoppable duo of Antonio Brown and Le'Veon Bell. It is clear to see that when these two players get going, not only do the statistics get out of hand, but so does the score. If all three of the "Killer Bs" get clicking, there should be no stopping them.
This game seems like it should be a walk in the park for the Steelers, but as any dedicated fan knows, these are they games that they worry about the most. It seems that when a game should be an "easy win" the team always seems to find a way to let the others play close, or even beat them. The biggest instances of this happening just this season came when they let the now 3-7 Chicago Bears defeat them in OT, or when the 3-7 Indianapolis Colts lost by a game ending field goal to the Steelers coming out of their bye week.
While this is not necessarily a "must win" game for the Steelers, a swift and hefty defeat of the Packers would prove that the Steelers can in fact beat bad or hurt teams. While the Steelers continue to beat above .500 teams, it is a lot harder to take a team seriously when they are barely contending with teams who are already out of the playoff picture. Defeating the Packers would put them at 9-2 on the season, and allow them to hold 1st place in not only the AFC North, but the entire AFC.
Winning out the rest of the season would give the Steelers home field advantage throughout the entire playoffs, which would be huge for them considering how well they have played at home this season.
While it may be easy for some analysts to write this off as a win for the Burgh, don't think they are out of the woods just yet. The Steelers have all the tools they need to beat the Packers this Sunday, now all we can do is hope they use them.
