The Detroit Lions will travel to Heinz Field to take on the Pittsburgh Steelers this Saturday night in NFL Preseason action.
The Detroit Lions will be searching for their first win of the NFL preseason after being defeated by the Buffalo Bills, 16-15, in their first preseason. Detroit was impressive in the 4th quarter, scoring 13 unanswered points to take a 15-13 lead with just a 1:38 left in the game, however, the defense could not get a stop late and allowed the Bills to win it on a Tyler Bass 44-yard FG with just :15 seconds left in the game. Offensively, Jared Goff was solid in his first appearance as he completed 7 for 9 passes for 56 yards. QB’s David Blough & Tim Boyle combined to complete 13 for 21 passes for 114 yards. The top receiving threats for the Lions were Tom Kennedy (4 rec, 46 yards), Javon McKinley (2 rec, 40 yards), & Tyrell Williams (2 rec, 30 yards). Leading the way for the Detroit backfield was Craig Reynolds (6 car, 49 yards, 1 TD) & Dedrick Mills (5 car, 32 yards).
Defensively, Detroit did a solid job of avoiding giving up any big plays, however, they still allowed Buffalo to put up 259 yards against them and didn’t for a single turnover. Leading the way for the Lions defense was Andre Smith (8 Tackles, 1 TFL), Cam Lewis (7 Tackles), & Mike Bell (3 Tackles, 1 Sack).
The Pittsburgh Steelers improved to 2-0 on the preseason after defeating the Philadelphia Eagles, 24-16, on August 12th. Pittsburgh trailed by a 16-7 margin at halftime, however, the Steelers dominated the Eagles on both ends of the field in the 2nd half and scored 17 unanswered points to secure the come from behind victory. Leading the way for the Steelers offense was QB Dwayne Haskins who completed 16 of 22 passes for 161 yards & 1 TD. QB’s Mason Rudolph & Joshua Dobbs combined to completed 13 of 15 passes for 107 yards & 1 INT. The top receiving threats for the Steelers were Rico Bussey (4 rec, 45 yards), Diontae Johnson (3 rec, 41 yards), & Anthony Johnson (2 rec, 38 yards, TD). Leading the way for the Pittsburgh backfield was Tony Brooks-James (9 car, 51 yards), Jaylen Samuels (10 car, 45 yards, 1 TD), & Anthony McFarland Jr. (9 car, 34 yards, 1 TD).
Defensively, Pittsburgh held Philadelphia to 277 yards and just 10 first downs. Pittsburgh forced two Philadelphia turnovers and was led by Jamir Jones (4 Tackles, 1 Sack), Robert Spillane (4 Tackles), & Arthur Maulet (4 tackles).
The Lions are 4-9 ATS in their last 13 road games and just 3-7 ATS in their last 10 games a road underdog. The Steelers are 4-1-1 ATS in their last 6 Saturday games and 8-3 ATS in their last 11 games on grass.
I like the energy that Detroit’s head coach Dan Campbell is bringing to the Lions however, this is still not a very good football team. Detroit looks like they are going to sit some of their main offensive starters and between the fact that Pittsburgh is going to play Big Ben and that they have a bunch of depth on the defensive side of the ball that should be able to hold up against the Lions offense, I think Pittsburgh stays undefeated and does enough to cover this spread. Good Luck!
AUTHOR: Brett Nault
