Pittsburgh Steelers
vs.
Chicago Bears
Week 3
NFL Pick
9/24/17
By: Jason Green
The Steelers have won their first two Games and after a less than impressive win in their opener they were impressive in their last Game shutting down the Vikings holding them to only nine points. Ben Roethlisberger has completed 66% of his passes and he only has one pick on the season. The Pittsburgh defense held the Vikings without a TD in their last Game and this Sunday face a winless Chicago squad that only scored seven points in their last Game.
The Bears are winless and they are opposite of the Steelers, as they were pretty good in their close opening Game loss to the defending NFC champion Falcons, but they were blown out in their last Game. Chicago has given up at least 23 points in their first two Games and that is a major coNCern, as they really lack weapons on the offensive side of the football.
The last time these teams met in was back in the 2013 season in Pittsburgh where the Steelers suffered a 40-23 home loss to the Bears.
The Steelers beat the Minnesota Vikings 26-9 in their last Game where they won with their D, which held the Vikes to only 237 total yards. Big Ben had a solid outing going 23 for 35 for 243 yards with 2 TD and was not picked off and he spread the wealth around to different WR’s. Le’Veon Bell led the team rushing for 87 yards, after struggling in the first Game of the season, but still only averaged 3.7 yards per carry. He will be facing a Chicago run D that GAve up 117 yards in their last Game.
In their last Game the Bears lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 29-7 and they got off to a terrible start getting down 26-0 in the first half. That cannot happen in this Game if they are going to have any chance to win, as they have to run the ball, which they did not do facing Tampa Bay.
Chicago Mike Glennon did pass for 301 yards with a TD in the loss to the Bucs, but he was also picked off twice. While the Bears don’t have a great WR corps Four players had at least 50 receiving yards in the loss. The Bears simply have no running Game to speak of, as Tarik Cohen and Jordan Howard are the two leading rushers and have combined for 138 yards after two Games with 46 of those yards coming on a single run. The pressure on Chicago in this Game is on their D and Glennon and if they lose this Game it may be time for the team to start looking at the 2nd pick in the draft QB Mitchell Trubisky.
Key Betting Trends
The Steelers are 8-3-1 ATS in their last 12 Games overall, 5-2 ATS in their last 7 road Games, and in their last 5 Games the Under record is 4-1.
The Bears are 4-0 ATS vs. a team with a winning record, 5-1 ATS in their last 6 home Games, and in their last 5 Games facing a team with a winning record the Under record is 4-1.
Jason’s Pick: The Steelers were legit in their last Game while the winless Bears were not. Big Ben will have another good Game, but this Game will be won by the Pittsburgh defense, which will shut down the Bears and their lack of an attack. The Steelers will win this Game and cover the spread moving to 3-0 on the season.