The Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t get much help Sunday as far as the overall AFC standings go and now they’ll enter Week 13 as the No. 8 seed in the conference. Their game next Sunday is sure to be a real test as they’ll host the (8-3) New York Giants, who beat the Cleveland Browns 27-13 earlier in the day.
The early lines are now out for next Sunday’s game and the Steelers opened as 6-point home favorites over the Giants, according to vegasinsider.com.
In the Giants Sunday win over the Browns, quarterback Eli Manning completed 15 of hid 27 total pass attempts in the game for 194 yards and 3 touchdowns. Two of Manning’s three touchdown passes went to wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., who finished the game with 6 receptions for 96 yards. The Giants offense also rushed for 104 yards against the Browns but converted just 4 of their 13 total third down opportunities.
While the Giants defense did allow Browns quarterback Josh McCown to complete 25 of his 43 total pass attempts in the game for 322 yards and a touchdown, they were able to sack him a total of 7 times and defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul was credited with 3 of them. Pierre-Paul also forced a fumble on one of those sacks late in the game.
The Giants defense only allowed the Browns offense to rush for 58 yards Sunday and they forced and recovered three fumbles during the contest.
The last time the Steelers played the Giants was in 2012 and they won that road game 24-20. Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger completed 21 of his 30 pass attempts in that game for 216 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. His scoring throws went to former wide receivers Emmanuel Sanders and Mike Wallace. That game also featured former running back Isaac Redman rushing for 147 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries.
In the Giants 2012 loss to the Steelers, Manning completed just 10 of his 24 total pass attempts in the game for 125 yards and an interception.
Sunday will mark the fourth time that Roethlisberger and Manning have squared-off against one another and the former has beaten the latter twice in the previous three meetings between the two teams.
