Pittsburgh Steelers (away)
Date: Oct. 2
Time: 7:20 p.m. CST
Channel: NBC
What has changed: Pittsburgh did not have much cap space to work with this offseason, so the moves in free agency were extremely limited. Yet, the Steelers did not add to the team sans the signing of tight end Ladarius Green, coming over from the San Diego Chargers.
Pittsburgh did lose nose tackle Steve McLendon to the New York Jets and offensive tackle Kelvin Beachum to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Perhaps the biggest loss was watching star wide receiver Martavis Bryant being suspended for the season. Bryant is one of the fastest players in football and an explosive counterpart to Antonio Brown.
Should they scare you?: Absolutely. The Steelers have some quite obvious holes on defense but this is a team with a big-time offense. Even without Bryant in the fold, Pittburgh has Ben Roethlisberger at the controls with Brown and Markus Wheaton on the outside. While Green never broke through in San Diego, look for him to be a contributor at tight end in Pittsburgh.
The main questions with this team revolve around health. Can Roethlisberger play 16 games and can running back Le’Veon Bell return from a brutal knee injury that tore two ligaments. Should those two subjects come up aces for the Steelers, this is a team that could challenge for a Super Bowl.
Prediction: 24-21, Steelers
Next: Game #5