Washington at Pittsburgh, Week 13: Predicting the winner of Washington vs. Steelers

The contributors at BTSC have recorded their thoughts and predictions. Let’s go see who’s closest to the mark and furthest from reality. Last time, Mark Davison (24-0) and Michael Beck (24-7) came closest to the mark.

Who will it be with bragging rights this week?

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Michael Beck

The Pittsburgh Steelers will need to emotionally rebound after the rollercoaster game against the Ravens, and quickly snap its focus to the Washington Football team if they want to improve to 12-0. After the tongue lashing Mike Tomlin gave to the locker room I anticipate a more focused and determined Steelers team that will take of business once again.

Steelers 27, The Football Team 13

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Geoffrey Benedict

The Steelers come off a ridiculous week 12 and now will face The Football Team on a short week (four days off is still better than a Sunday->Thursday turnaround) with The Football Team having 10 days since their Thanksgiving day stomping of Dallas to prepare for the Steelers. The Football Team is young, has talent, and is finding out they can win games in the NFL. That’s a tough matchup, but I think the Steelers pull this one out.

Steelers 21, The Football Team 17

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Bryan Anthony Davis

It has often been said that the best time to play the Steelers is the week after they play the Baltimore Ravens. Dallas proved that to be a certainty and Washington is coming alive a bit. If you think that Mike Tomlin’s “us sucking” comment was not directed messaging to his team, then you aren’t paying intimate attention. The Steelers will respond and clean up the mess. You don’t have to lose to successfully receive a wake-up call. You don’t have to low out teams either. You have to play clean and smart to win.

Steelers 28, Washington Football Team 20

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Mark Davison

That was a wild ride for Steeler Nation to say the least. Our Pittsburgh Steelers finally played the game and won against the Baltimore Ravens. Eleven straight wins gives the Steelers a perfect record but the team has a few things to improve on. Bring on the Washington Football Team for a short week. A comeback player in Alex Smith vs. our leader in Ben Roethlisberger maybe for the last time - as I said in the Steelers Touch Down Under podcast with Matty. I hope they sack Smith, however, I hope they do it safely. All joking aside Alex has been through quite a lot and it’s amazing to see him back on the field. The Steelers win, but a good football team shows up and gives them a run for their money.

Steelers 31, Washington 26

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Anthony Defeo

The Steelers are a bit beat up and COVID compromised. The Washington Football Team is coming off the very coveted and very popular mini byes. I’m thinking this will be yet another one of those games that leaves folks questioning the legitimacy of the Steelers’ undefeated record. But the good news is the Steelers will still have an undefeated record when all is said and done.

Steelers 16, Washington 10

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Jeff Hartman

There are a lot of questions surrounding the Steelers heading into Week 13. How will they play without Bud Dupree? Will they be able to get their running game going even though it is unexpected James Conner plays for the second game in a row? Will Ben Roethlisberger play after not practicing all week and being listed as questionable on the final injury report? A lot of questions, but the answers fans need to know if this Steelers team is a much better team than the Washington Football Team. This will be a good test for the Steelers’ offensive line, but I think they are up to the challenge.

Steelers 27, Washington 17

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Matty Peverell

I’m just glad to put last week, not to mention last week’s game behind me. Surely the Steelers are thinking the same? The blessing in disguise is that the Steelers won what was an incredible ugly matchup, marred by injuries and poor performance - capping of a tumultuous few days. This week the undefeated team Pittsburgh Steelers play their 2nd of three games in 12 days - they better bring their A-game or that 0 in the loss column might just tick up. I expect the secondary to have a strong performance and hopefully the Steelers can have a few more players back off the COVID-19 list to bolster their player stocks - particularly on the offense. This could be the game we see JuJu break 100 yards again too.

Steelers 29, Washington 23

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Big Bro Scho

After waiting so long for the Steelers to play last week, my sense of timing is thrown off. I haven’t known what day of the week it’s been since Thanksgiving. The Steelers looked off a bit on Wednesday (at least that’s what day people told me they played). I know Coach Tomlin lit a fire under them this week, and I expect the Steelers to come out and play on point. Washington is a young and improving football team, but I do not see them going on the road and gaining enough momentum to pull this game off. Game stays close until the 4th quarter, but the Steelers pull away for the win.

Steelers 28, WFT (or WTF) 16

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Dave Schofield

The Steelers came out with a dominating win over the Cincinnati Bengals after a less-than-stellar victory over the Dallas Cowboys. After a poor performance in a victory over the ravens, I would say the Steelers bounce back against Washington. Yes, they are a dangerous team, but the Steelers haven’t given up 20 points in four straight games. The offense looks much improved in the defense keeps doing their thing.

Steelers 28, Washington 10

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K.T. Smith

Heading into last week’s Baltimore game, I had the contest against Washington pegged as the Steelers first loss. I figured it was the perfect trap situation, sandwiched between games against Baltimore and Buffalo, with a young, hungry WFT somehow competing for a division title despite a 4-7 record and the Steelers, at 11-0, feeling a bit complacent and unfocused. Then Pittsburgh went out and played their worst game of the year against the Ravens, Mike Tomlin told the media the team sucked in his post-game interview and no one in Pittsburgh seemed particularly pleased about anything. Throw in a general sense of salty-ness over how the Steelers have been jerked around by the league and I think we’ll see a much better effort from the Black and Gold on Monday.

Pittsburgh 24, Washington 16

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Shannon White

Multiple sports prognosticators openly expressed their heartfelt desire to see Alex Smith and the Washington Football Team stroll into Pittsburgh this week and deal the Steelers their first loss of the 2020 NFL season. The lack of respect and disdain for everything Black and Gold outside of Steelers Nation is palpable. None of that really matters, as the Steelers are an entity all of their own. The Steelers will be missing multiple starters on both sides of the ball due to the pandemic and injuries. They came out flat and uninspired after their last outing was rescheduled three times. I don't expect that to be an issue this week.

Steelers 27 Washington 17

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Andrew York (Contributor, Hogs Haven)

Well, I’m not going to predict a Washington victory. The Steelers are undefeated and Washington is 4-7 despite playing in one of the worst divisions in NFL history this year. Beyond that, I have to say even fans of the team have been having a tough time figuring out what this Washington team is. The team has shown flashes of potential and clearly has a lot of talent in certain players and among certain position groups, but hasn’t played many complete games due to mistakes or weaknesses elsewhere on the roster. We have been playing better recently though, ever since Alex Smith took over as QB. Part is probably due to Alex’s leadership, part is due to the many young players getting NFL experience finally starting to figure out their responsibilities in a new scheme, and part is probably due to a soft recent schedule. Washington fans will be intently watching this game because it will let us know how much of this improvement is due to the soft schedule and how much is genuine improvement on the team, as the Steelers are unquestionably a good team and a tough opponent. Either we fall apart and get blown out by the Steelers, in which case a lot of our improvement may have been a mirage due to the soft schedule, or we play the Steelers close and look like a competitive team, in which case maybe that improvement was real.

For anyone who wants a score prediction, Vegas has a 42 point over/under and 7 point spread, which would imply something like...

Steelers 24, Washington 17

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What is your prediction? Which BTSC contributor is most on the money? Let us know in the poll and the comment section below!!