A dominant 20-3 victory over the Minnesota Vikings successfully launched the Jim Tomsula era with a bang in San Francisco. But the San Francisco 49ers (1-0) face another tough test when they travel to Pennsylvania to take on the Pittsburgh Steelers (0-1), who’ll be looking to rebound from their season opener loss to the New England Patriots last Thursday, for their Week 2 matchup at Heinz Field on Sunday. Can the 49ers make it two-straight wins?
Read on further for an in-depth breakdown of this promising showdown. And while you’re at it, check out our other Week 2 previews: Houston Texans vs. Carolina Panthers, Miami Dolphins vs. Jacksonville Jaguars and Dallas Cowboys vs. Philadelphia Eagles.
[sc:Football ]San Francisco 49ers vs. Pittsburgh Steelers Preview
Where: Heinz Field, Pittsburgh
When: Sunday, September 20, 1:00 PM ET
Line: San Francisco 49ers (+6) at Pittsburgh Steelers (-6); total: 45.5 – view all NFL lines
TV Broadcast: FOX
Betting on the San Francisco 49ers
All eyes were on Carlos Hyde during their matchup with the Minnesota Vikings on Monday night. Hyde carried the load on offense throughout the game by finishing with 168 yards on the ground and touchdown runs of 17 and 10 yards in his first career start. This big output from the 23-year-old running back eventually led the 49ers to a commanding 20-3 victory, which also extended their season-opener winning streak to five.
[sc:NFL240banner ]Needless to say, his efforts alone weren’t the sole basis for the win. Colin Kaepernick, the dual threat QB, gave an effort worth noticing as he efficiently engineered a run-heavy night for San Francisco. The Niners accumulated 230 rushing yards collectively, while Kaepernick, who is now 5-0 on Monday night games, went 17-of-26 for 165 yards with a sack and an 83.0 quarterback rating to his name.
After this dominant display from the 49ers, getting overconfident won’t do them any good at all. They’re Week 2 opponents, Pittsburgh Steelers, will provide another challenging task to overcome. But with the Steelers expected to continue missing the services of Le’Veon Bell and Martavis Bryant, things could turn towards their favor.
Hyde and the ground game looked capable of running over any team in the league with how well they played against Minnesota, and could find similar success against a mediocre Steelers front seven.
San Francisco could also try exploiting a struggling Pittsburgh pass defense that allowed New England’s tight end, Rob Gronkowski, three touchdowns and a total of 361 total yards in their season opener loss on September 10. The tight end pairing of Vernon Davis and Garrett Celek combined for 87 yards on just six receptions to lead the Niners receivers.
Also hoping to outdo his forgettable NFL debut is Jarryd Hayne. Hayne, the former Australian rugby league star, had only four carries for 13 yards, while fumbling his first touch from a punt.
Over on defense, linebacker NaVorro Bowman, who had one of five sacks on Minnesota’s Teddy Bridgewater and also seven tackles in his first game in 20 months following a left knee injury, build on his momentum by disrupting the Steelers’ terrific offensive game that posted 411.1 total yards per contest—the second-highest in the NFL last season.
San Francisco is 4-6 SU and 4-5-1 ATS in its last 10 games.
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Betting on the Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are not the same offense without their wide receiver, Martavis Bryant, and elite running back in Le’Veon Bell, who are both fulfilling their respective suspensions.
This was clearly seen in their 28-21 defeat to the New England Patriots on Thursday night’s season opener, during which the Steelers’ defense was totally exposed and overwhelmed by the duo of quarterback Tom Brady and tight end Rob Gronkowski.
Brady turned his regular season switch on and completed 19 passes in a row at one point, which was a franchise record. He eventually finished the game 25-of-32 for 288 yards with no interceptions and connected with Gronkowski for three of his four spectacular touchdowns that proved to be enough to give them the win.
Despite this sorry loss, the Steelers proved that they are still lethal even with some missing weapons.
Starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is a testament to this as he managed to display a solid performance by finishing 26-of-38 for 351 yards with a touchdown, an interception and a 95.4 passer rating. Then, keeping up with his footsteps were Antonio Brown and new running back DeAngelo Williams, who both made sure that the Steelers didn’t go down without a fight.
Brown reminded the league why he is (arguably) the best player in his position right now. He went for total of 133 yards on nine catches, which marked the 33rd consecutive game of garnering at least five receptions and 50 yards. Williams, meanwhile, wasted no time in making some noise with his new team by gaining 127 yards on 21 carries and added one catch for five yards.
That being said, the Steelers’ definitely have a good chance in emerging triumphant in their promising Week 2 showdown with the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday. It’s going to be a pretty interesting matchup between two teams, who have formidable offensive games to be proud about.
Pittsburgh has had tremendous success in the passing game, ranking second overall in 2014 with 301.6 yards per contest. San Francisco, on the other hand, will strive to take advantage of the former AFC North division champions’ sketchy defense with their rushing game that averaged 136.0 yards per outing, which was fourth-best in the same year.
The Steelers are 7-3 SU and 6-4 ATS in their previous 10 games as the favorites.
Writer’s Prediction
Pittsburgh (-6) wins, 30-24.
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