Through the game is still six days away, the Good Morning Football Crew has already begun to make its Week One picks. In a discussion over potential upsets, Peter Schrager is confident the Pittsburgh Steelers will send the San Francisco 49ers on a long flight back to the West Coast with a loss in their hands.
Schrager made the passionate case for it earlier today.
“I think the 49ers/Steelers game has upset all over it,” Schrager said on GMFB. “The Steelers have been playing preseason football as if it’s the Super Bowl the last three weeks. Tomlin has his guys wired. Ready to go.”
It’s hard to envision a better summer and preseason for the Steelers. The first-string offense was perfect, five drives, five touchdowns, while the defense harassed Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills starters in the second preseason game, and the entire team stayed healthy. There are no lingering questions heading into the season like the 49ers have. Will DE Nick Bosa end his holdout? How will QB Brock Purdy fare after his serious elbow injury? Who will be their kicker? Pittsburgh has none of that.
There’s a track record for recent Steelers’ Week One upsets. Last year, they opened the year with a bonkers game against the Cincinnati Bengals but ultimately upset them in overtime on a Chris Boswell game-winning field goal. Two years ago, they went on the road to beat Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills 23-16, a Miles Killebrew punt block the second-half catalyst to victory. For the first time since 2014, the Steelers open a season at home, and Schrager sees that as a real advantage.
“Home crowd. Place is rocking. Healthy T.J. Watt. Healthy Kenny Pickett,” he said. “Styx’s Renegade blasting in the fourth quarter.”
Since 2001, the Steelers are 8-2 in Week One home openers. On paper, there’s plenty of advantages Pittsburgh has coming into this one to the point where it doesn’t even feel like an upset. The line is technically slightly in the 49ers’ favor but as we wrote about, the majority of analysts expect the Steelers to come out on top. Including Schrager.
“Week One, you’re asking me who I’m taking? It ain’t the Niners Week One,” he said. “You couldn’t draw up a possibly worse situation than to go into Pittsburgh, which is just sizzling hot right now. Mike Tomlin has his guys ready to play.”
While confidence is high, the 49ers can’t be overlooked. They had the NFL’s top-rated defense last season and only got better with the addition of DT Javon Hargrave. Fred Warner remains one of the league’s top linebackers and odds are, Bosa will have a new deal and play in some capacity on Sunday. Offensively, they boast a sound scheme with a bright mind in Kyle Shanahan with versatility all over the place in WR/RB Deebo Samuel and RB/WR Christian McCaffrey, while TE George Kittle is one of the league’s biggest matchup headaches. Don’t forget about LT Trent Williams, either.
We’ll get our answers soon enough. Pittsburgh and San Francisco kick off Sunday at 1 PM/EST.
