Will the Steelers catch the Niners on the wrong foot?
The egg is finally flying again! The National Football League kicks off the “Regular Season” and Pennsylvania has an absolute tradition duel right in the opening week! Six Super Bowl wins against five Super Bowl wins: Pittsburgh Steelers vs. San Francisco 49ers.
We do not dare to predict a bet on the slightly favored guests, because on the one hand, the home side was able to make many important adjustments in the offseason and on the other hand, because there are some question marks with the team from the Bay Area.
In the strong NFC North many experts expect a duel for the division crown. This will probably be fought out between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Baltimore Ravens, as a comparison of the bookmakers shows. Whether the Steelers can seriously intervene in this battle is doubtful. However, it would certainly not surprise anyone if head coach Mike Tomlin could extend his NFL record and also finish his 17th season as head coach without a losing record.
Whoever thinks of the Niners probably automatically has the Brock Purdy fairytale in mind, which came to an abrupt end in the Championship Game against Philadelphia due to his injury. His recovery process went pretty well, though, and so he’ll be leading the 49ers with the Steelers. A prognosis in which direction his fairy tale and thus the season of the Californians will develop, showed the Preseason.
Pittsburgh Steelers – statistics & current form
Kenny Pickett, the Steelers quarterback they selected in the first round of the draft before last season, is entering his second year. The solid performances in his rookie season, but especially the few passes in preseason games leading up to the upcoming season, created some hype in Pittsburgh. Additionally, the offensive line was bolstered when college talent was selected in April and will ensure Pickett gets more time to showcase his receivers this year.
Speaking of receivers, there are two standouts there in Diontae Johnson, who has consistently recorded over 140 pass catches over the last three years, and George Pickens – who, like Pickett, is entering his second NFL season. Last but not least, that group has been expanded with veteran Allen Robinson II. In addition, Tomlin’s team is well-stocked at the running back position with Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren. Both will certainly be able to benefit from the improved offensive line as well.
Improved Defense?
The change to the defensive side is even more positive when looking at the Steelers roster. Along with superstar T.J. Watt, defensive line Alex Highsmith celebrated something of his breakout last season. In addition, there may even be rookie Keeanu Benton, who is a prospect for a starting spot. All in all, the defensive side possesses the ability to make a significant jump from the preseason.
Behind the defensive line – the so-called secondary of the defense – there are definitely exciting personnel. In addition to standout cornerbacks in veteran Patrick Peterson and rookie Joey Porter Jr, the safety group is also strong. The matchup between the Steelers and 49ers will directly test the strong defensive line, according to our prediction.
Key Players:
QB: Kenny Pickett
RB: Najee Harris
WR: George Pickens
TE: Pat Freiermuth
K: Chris Boswell
San Francisco 49ers – stats & current form
The quarterback question hovered over Kyle Shanahan’s team like a sword of Damocles during the offseason. The most pressing questions were: When will Purdy be ready to go, and then what happens to Trey Lance? Lance was lured to the Bay Area in the 2021 draft, but threw just 102 total passes and started in four games. At no point did he justify the expensive price San Francisco paid for him. With the “roster cuts” at the end of August, his era in California was over and the former “3rd-overall pick” was traded to Dallas. He currently goes down in NFL history as one of the biggest draft busts.
Another question mark until Wednesday night was the personnel of Nick Bosa. Last season’s Defensive Player of the Year was on “hold out” and did not practice with the team because both parties could not agree on a new contract. Shortly before the start of the season, however, the Niners made Bosa the highest-paid defensive player in NFL history, and so the California defense will probably be among the top five in the league again this year. The position of defensive coordinator was taken by former Panthers interim head coach Steve Wilks after the departure of DeMeco Ryans to the Texans.
Superpowerful Offense
The offense features – as expected – a lot of familiar faces. Rounding out the wide receiver corps behind Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk and Jauan Jennings is now seventh-round pick Ronnie Bell, who made the squad thanks to a strong preseason – with ten pass catches for 172 yards. The Niners also have arguably one of the league’s best tight ends on their roster in George Kittle, who had an extremely good connection with rookie quarterback Purdy last season. In the few plays the young playmaker got in preseason games, he emerged as the clear number one quarterback in the Bay Area.
By its very nature, a Shanahan-coached team is spread out at the running back position, but even there there is that one playmaker who makes the difference: Christian McCaffrey. He traded in the Panthers jersey for the Niners uniform over the course of last season and recorded 13 touchdowns in 14 games for the Californians. Can he seamlessly build on those performances and contribute an end zone visit in the Steelers vs. 49ers duel? The odds on this are 2.00.
Key Players:
QB: Brock Purdy
RB: Christian McCaffrey
WR: Deebo Samuel
TE: George Kittle
K: Jake Moody
Pittsburgh Steelers – San Francisco 49ers Head-to-head comparison / H2H record
The H2H comparison over several seasons always lags a bit in the NFL. The personnel changes between seasons are often too great, and one player – primarily the quarterback – can influence a team’s performance too much, for example. Still, let’s look at the previous matchups between the two traditional franchises: the two teams have dueled 22 times, with the Californians holding a slight edge in wins, 12 to 10.
Most recently, in 2019, the two quarterbacks were Mason Rudolph and Jimmy Garoppolo. In Santa Clara, the Steelers lost to the 49ers with 20:24. The betting odds that again over 41.5 points will be scored are at a strong 1.90, which is certainly due to the strong defenses in each case.
Pittsburgh Steelers – San Francisco 49ers tip
We expect a very even game in the “Acrisure Stadium” to Pittsburgh and therefore see – as already written at the beginning – between the Steelers and 49ers from a tip on a winner. A success of the home side against last year’s NFC Championship Game participant we would not exclusively. Therefore, a recommendation on the Tomlin team to win using the offered handicap of 2.5 points is also a good idea.
In our search for more good Steelers vs. 49ers odds, we naturally found what we were looking for and are betting six units on the visitors putting at least 21 points on the scoreboard.
For many teams in the NFL, it’s hard to predict who will take on supporting roles on the team before the season starts, but with only marginal changes to the San Francisco offense, it’s a different story there. Making a touchdown guess on one of the known playmakers seems to make perfect sense. We already let it be known in the 49ers section that Christian McCaffrey is our favorite for this one.
