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The Pittsburgh Steelers kick off the 2019 regular season in style when they travel to Gillette Stadium to play the New England Patriots. Oh, but this isn’t just another prime time game, the Steelers are more than comfortable in that setting. No, this is when the Patriots will raise their sixth Super Bowl banner in front of a sell out crowd and nationally televised audience.
Not ideal circumstances for any team, let alone the Steelers, who haven’t won in Foxborough since 2008 when Matt Cassel, not Tom Brady, was the quarterback of the team during that game.
Fans have their own thoughts on who will win this game, but it is in this space where we take a look at who the NFL experts are taking in the Sunday Night Football contest? Let’s dive into the results to see whether the experts see an upset in the making, or yet another Patriots home victory.
The folks here at SB Nation might be the most pro-Steelers site among the mainstream media sites. How? Because 2, yes 2, of the 8 experts who make weekly picks see the Steelers claiming victory on Sunday night.
At CBS Sports, they were much less friendly than those at SB Nation. CBS has the Steelers losing, but was able to give a description of their decision:
The point spread almost seems crazy here. Ben Roethlisberger, a drama-free offense and a highly underrated defense will take the defending champs down to the wire. But how in the world can you feel good betting against Tom Brady and Bill Belichick in Foxborough? At the very least, this should be one of the games of the week.
Prediction: Patriots 28, Steelers 24
Those at ESPN who produce weekly picks also were very Pro-Patriots, which is not a surprise. Only one, Dan Graziano, thinks the Steelers have a shot at pulling off the upset in Week 1.
Finally, at USA Today they too are leaning towards the Patriots to win Sunday night. But there was the one expert, of the seven, who likes the visiting team in this AFC grudge match.
But there are just a handful of sites who produce weekly picks across the NFL. What about all the other sites who also produce picks, but weren’t included in this article? That is where the site NFL Pick Watch comes in. They take all NFL expert picks and compile them into one easy-to-read graph. According to NFL Pick Watch, 86% of experts are taking the Patriots to hold serve at home on Sunday night.
What say you? Who do you think will win the game this Sunday, in your honest opinion? Let us know in the comment section below, and be sure to keep tabs on BTSC leading up to kickoff to make sure you don’t miss any of the news surrounding the game!