NFL Expert Picks, Week 16: Steelers unlikely to win vs. the Colts, per the “experts”

The Pittsburgh Steelers enter their Week 16 game vs. the Indianapolis Colts with the better record, and playing at home. However, despite their 11-3 record, and the Colts’ 10-4 record, the Steelers are reeling. Losers of their last three games, the Steelers have their fans, and the NFL experts, second-guessing whether this team is a contender or pretender.

In fact, the Steelers, despite their early season success and being at Heinz Field, are underdogs vs. the Colts in Week 16. Will the Steelers be able to bounce back? Will they be able to right the ship? Will the be able to silence their many critics?

Time to take a look at what the experts think about this Pittsburgh vs. Indianapolis game to be played Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.

For the experts who give some explanation to their picks, Will Brinson of CBS Sports sees another disappointing game for the Steelers Sunday.

This game feels a little too obvious — the Colts are just a lot better than the Steelers right now. Pittsburgh needs to win this game or else things can go sideways and they could lose the division to the Browns in Week 17. But some times, as a great philosopher once told me, you just need to realize that a line is just a line. The Colts are the better team right now. I don’t see a situation where the Steelers snap out of their funk and win this game. They can’t run the ball and their short-passing game doesn’t bode well against the Colts zone defense. Indy doesn’t blow teams out, so that’s concerning. But they should handle Pittsburgh here.

The Pick: Colts 24, Steelers 17

However, not all experts see this game being a laugher. CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco thinks the Steelers will pull off the upset and clinch the AFC North in the process.

These two are both alive in the playoff chase, which makes this a big game. The Steelers are struggling in a big way to move the football, while the Colts defense has lagged some the past few weeks. Something will have to give. I think Ben Roethlisberger will make some plays down the field that have been missing. The Steelers will pull off the upset.

Pick: Steelers 23, Colts 21

As for the folks at the Sporting News they believe the game will be close, but it will be the Colts, not the Steelers, leaving Heinz Field victorious.

The Colts have not committed a turnover in their last three wins, and the Steelers are coming off a short week. Philip Rivers is 2-2 in the regular season at Heinz Field, and he pushes Indianapolis into the playoffs in an upset.

Pick: Colts 28, Steelers 24

There are always those sites who don’t put the thought into the outcome of the game like the above websites. Instead, they just pick the winners and leave it at that. For sites like, CBS Sports and ESPN, they are almost all-in on the Colts to beat the Steelers. There were a few who were bold enough to see a bounce-back game for the home team, but there weren’t many.

In the grand scheme of things, these are just a few websites which produce weekly expert picks. What about all the other sites? Who do they think will win this huge AFC matchup? This is where our friends at NFL Pick Watch come in and lend a hand. NFL Pick Watch takes all NFL expert picks across the internet and compiles them into an easy-to-read graph.

According to NFL Pick Watch, just 31% of the experts across the internet think the Steelers stand a chance on Sunday at Heinz Field.

Will the experts be right? Or will the Steelers find a way to reclaim their 11-0 selves and beat the Colts? Only time will tell, but the experts certainly aren’t banking on the Steelers to rebound in Week 16.