The Pittsburgh Steelers and Denver Broncos are about to do battle at Heinz Field on Sunday in Week 2 of NFL action, and there are a lot of uncertainties surrounding both AFC teams heading into this game.
For the Steelers, the concern is about their offensive line. Likely without Stefen Wisniewski and David DeCastro, this would push rookie Kevin Dotson into a starting role in just his second professional game. Also, after Zach Banner tore his ACL in the Monday night win over the New York Giants, the team will turn to Chukwuma Okorafor to anchor the right side of the line.
As for the Broncos, they will likely be without A.J. Bouye, Phillip Lindsay and Von Miller will be out of the lineup for months before he could possibly return to the Broncos defense.
Talk about a ton of injuries for both teams, and it is just Week 2 of the 2020 regular season. Nonetheless, experts are making their picks prior to the slate of games this weekend, and it is time to check in and see who they like in this matchup between the Broncos and Steelers.
The expert panel at ESPN is a slam dunk for the Steelers. Not one of their experts is predicting an upset win over for Denver on the road, but have no fear, the haters at SB Nation are always good for someone to pick against the Steelers. Of all their experts who make weekly picks, only one thinks the Steelers lose at home in Week 2.
Those experts just provide winners, but some will expand on their picks and give a reasoning behind their selection.
Will Brinson of CBS Sports gave his prediction for the upcoming game between AFC foes:
Two Monday night teams coming off short rest will do battle in Pittsburgh’s home opener, and it’s hard to not feel bad for Drew Lock in this spot. He flashed at times against Tennessee in Week 1 and I think he can do the same against the Steelers, a la Daniel Jones. But Denver is banged up, on short rest, traveling halfway across the country and about to play an elite defense. I don’t think the Broncos defense can hold up against Pittsburgh over 60 minutes.
Pick: Steelers 28, Broncos 16
There are other experts at CBS Sports who also make their picks, and expound on their reasoning, and one would be Pete Prisco. See what Prisco had to say about the upcoming Steelers’ Week 2 showdown:
The Broncos are banged up and playing on a short week with a long trip. Bad combination. The Steelers will also be playing on a short week, but they are at home. They looked like a Super Bowl contender against the Giants and they will have that same look here. Steelers big.
Pick: Steelers 30, Broncos 16
The folks at Sporting News gave their thoughts on the upcoming game at Heinz Field:
Both of these teams are playing on short weeks, which in theory works in favor of the team that doesn’t have to deal with travel. The Steelers have realistic title aspirations in 2020 with Ben Roethlisberger back in the lineup to support a dominant defense. The Broncos are not yet on that level, especially without their best player, Von Miller.
Pick: Steelers 28, Broncos 17
The kicker in this situation is these are only a handful of websites who actually do weekly picks of games. What about all those other smaller sites who have experts who do their best to select winners every week for the world to see?
This is where NFL Pick Watch comes in. The folks at NFL Pick Watch take all NFL expert picks and put them into an easy-to-read graph giving percentages of experts, and which way they are leaning.
For the Steelers and Broncos game, 93% of the experts are believing the Steelers will be advancing their record to 2-0, while plummeting the Broncos’ record to 0-2.
Will the experts be right, and the Steelers win at home? Or will the Broncos come into Heinz Field and pull off the upset? Only time will tell, but be sure to stay tuned to BTSC for the latest news and notes surrounding the Steelers as they prepare for the Broncos this Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.