***SNF IN THE SWAMP - PIT @ DET***
***PITTSBURGH STEELERS @ DETROIT LIONS***
An interesting showdown takes place tonight on SNF as the 5-2 Pittsburgh Steelers pay a visit to the Motor City and take on the 3-3 Detroit Lions. These two teams meet only once every couple of seasons due to the AFC & NFC affiliations and the Steelers have won the last four meetings. I think that changes tonight as the Lions know they need to step up and "Defend the Den" as they say in Detroit. After somewhat of an weird and slow start to the season, the Steelers are feeling good after routing the Bengals in Pitt last weekend and surely are looking to do the same to the Lions if they aren't ready to put up a fight. No doubt about it, they looked back to form and strong last week, rolling on all cylinders while absolutely beating down a struggling rival Bengals team. Meanwhile the Lions had the week off and prepped to host the big bad Steelers on Prime Time tonight. Frankly, with both defenses improving with some youth this season but showing that they can have leaks at times I think it all comes down to a shootout between two of the top QBs in the NFL. Pittsburgh's Big Ben Rothlisberger vs Detroit's Matthew Stafford fresh off signing the HUGE contract extension this season. It is games like this that are in the spotlight and up against a true contender that Stafford can show his worth and why he deserves it, and I believe he will. Rookie DE TJ Watt is proving to be following in his big brother's footsteps and becoming an amazing steal in the draft for the Steelers. He will surely be in the backfield making things difficult for Stafford. On the contrary, I expect now veteran DE Ezekiel Ansah to do the same for the Lions and I know he is looking forward to the task of having his try on getting to one of the hardest QBs to bring down in Big Ben. That being said while I expect both QBs to sling it all night long and light up the stage with thrilling passing plays for us to feast on, I do feel like there could be some key defensive turnovers caused by the pressure that these defensive fronts will get. In a nutshell I feel like these teams are almost mirror images of each other and that the Steelers just 1-up the Lions in almost every position on the talent scale. I'm sure LB LeVeon Bell will be key here and that the Steelers will try to establish the run game with him to keep the Lions offense off the field with limited possession to keep them out of whack. That is where I expect guys like Rookie LB Jarrad Davis to make a name for himself tonight, keying on Bell and helping stuff the Lions defense stuff the run. In the passing game of course you always have to worry about the best WR in the game in Antonio Brown but don't be surprised if Lions CB Darius Slay is able to go toe to toe with him and limit his production, forcing Ben to throw it elsewhere. I'm looking forward to a fun and explosive matchup for us fans to feast on and cap off our nights with. Simply put in the end I like the Lions to hold down home field and Stafford to out play Rothlisberger. I think he will be able to find his guys through the air and shine tonight on the big stage. After dropping back to back games before the bye week, and now the Vikings beating the Browns in London earlier today, the Lions need this game more in order to keep chasing the Purple People currently leading the NFC North. Especially since the King in the North Green Bay QB Aaron Rodgers is out for the season with an injury, the Division is wide open. After a nice break in the bye week and extra time to prep, give me the home dawg here on Prime Time. LIONS+3
