Can the Lions finally get their first victory?
In the Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Detroit Lions matchup, the forecast clearly calls for a Steelers win, but why is that? The statistics seem to provide a clear answer – while the team from Pittsburgh has recently celebrated a winning streak of four games in a row, the one from Detroit has been without a single victory since the beginning of the season. Can this change soon?
Apparently not. For Steelers vs. Lions, odds of 1.25 for a bet on the home team to win are the best evidence of what the bettors think is the likely outcome,
Neither team, however, has been able to shine with particularly noteworthy performances against their opponents’ passes in their eight games so far. Steelers vs. Lions could be a game where both teams’ offenses need to bring home the win, as each is averaging more points allowed than scored.
However, the Lions have not done that very well of late. Only on the first gameday of this year’s season they managed to score more than 20 points, after that they did not manage to exceed this limit once. For this reason, in the game Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Detroit Lions, our prediction is that a bet on less than 17 points by the Lions seems highly advisable.
Pittsburgh Steelers – Statistics & current form
Although they have a positive overall record with five wins and only three losses, placing them second in the AFC North, the Pittsburgh Steelers are getting an average of one more point than they can score. They also allow more yards of space on average, neither defending passes nor runs have they been able to produce an outstanding performance consistently this season.
However, in a game like Steelers vs. Lions, where the performance of both teams’ offence will be crucial in deciding the winner, Pittsburgh has to contend with some potential blowouts that would significantly diminish their chances of winning or scoring a high total.
With quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, also known as “Big Ben”, running back Najee Harris, wide receiver Chase Claypool and centre Kendrick Green, four players from the Pennsylvania team are in question as to whether they will be able to play at all on Sunday. This is important because all of them are part of the Steelers’ first line of attack and thus represent offensive pillars. If all these players are absent, the away team may well win as underdogs, but this does not seem likely in the upcoming match.
Will T. J. Watt apply enough pressure?
For fans of the Pittsburgh team, one bright spot is definitely defender T. J. Watt. In last week’s match-up with the Chicago Bears, he totalled three sacks and just as many quarterback hits.
That makes him a key player for the Steelers, who selected him in the first round of the 2017 draft – a pick that apparently paid off. So far this season, he has totalled eleven and a half sacks in eight games. He is currently performing extremely well on a regular basis. He will also be able to put considerable pressure on the quarterback in the upcoming game against the Lions.
Key Players:
QB: Ben Roethlisberger (if he plays)
RB: Najee Harris (if he plays)
WR: Diontae Johnson
TE: Pat Freiermuth
LB: T. J. Watt
Detroit Lions – stats & recent form
Currently, the Detroit Lions appear to be one of, if not the worst team in the National Football League, having lost every single game so far in the regular season. Against the Steelers, too, the chances of finally being able to celebrate a victory after such a long dry spell do not seem very high.
At least the Lions’ noticeably weak offensive line is to blame for the lack of success. So far they have allowed 23 sacks on their quarterback Jared Goff, at least one in every game. So against a strong pass rush by opposing defenses, the Lions are having significant trouble getting their offense going properly.
Even when he does get to throw, however, Goff has so far failed to shine with flying colours. While he has thrown eight touchdowns, the six interceptions he has thrown almost entirely offset that success. The two players he plays most often are tight end T. J. Hockenson and running back Jamaal Williams.
The latter could even be absent for the encounter with the team from Pittsburgh, as he missed Thursday’s practice due to problems with his thigh. It is also not yet clear whether kicker Austin Seibert will be able to play. However, if he plays despite his lack of top form, our value bet in the Steelers vs. Lions match with betting odds of 1.95 on Bwin is that he will score less than 1.5 extra points. Indeed, he can only do so if the Detroit team scores two or more touchdowns.
Key Players:
QB: Jared Goff
RB: D’Andre Swift
RB: Jamaal Williams (if he plays)
WR: Khalif Raymond
TE: T. J. Hockenson
Pittsburgh Steelers – Detroit Lions Head-to-head comparison / H2H record
This week again, things are not looking great for a Detroit win; this is clearly reflected in the Steelers vs Lions win betting odds. The Lions’ best hope for a win is the potential personnel failures in Pittsburgh – not exactly something you should base your winning strategy on with a clear conscience, especially as these have not yet been finalised.
Although the Steelers have lost two of their three previous games at home, it seems that they will not let anything go to waste against the Lions. Another indication that speaks against a victory for the team from Detroit is the last meeting of the two teams.
That was not so long ago. On 22.08.2021, the Steelers defeated the Lions 26-20 in the preseason. The winner will most likely be the same in the upcoming game.
Pittsburgh Steelers – Detroit Lions Tip
There is one clear favourite for the result of this week’s game: the Pittsburgh Steelers. If Big Ben participates in the game, he will most likely be able to continue his good performance from the previous games consistently. But the biggest problem for the Lions will be stopping linebacker T. J. Watt.
Failing to stop the Pittsburgh pass rush will put massive pressure on Jared Goff and he will continue to have trouble getting his passes to the target.
