When something unexpected happens once, you could chalk it up to chance. If it happens again, you start to raise your eyebrows a bit. If it happens a third time? Now, that’s a trend, my friends.
That is exactly what the Pittsburgh Steelers are looking to do this coming Sunday at Acrisure Stadium in their Week One matchup against the San Francisco 49ers. Currently, the 49ers are 2.5-point road favorites on Fanduel and DraftKings, having been the favorites to win the matchup since the schedule came out a few months ago. However, the drumbeat for a Pittsburgh upset has been growing steadily louder with each passing day as multiple analysts and personalities across the NFL are beginning to think that Pittsburgh can play spoiler to San Francisco after making it to the NFC Championship Game last season.
Should Pittsburgh upset San Francisco this coming Sunday, it would mark the third year in a row that the Steelers have taken down a Week One opponent to which they were projected to lose. Last season, Pittsburgh went into Cincinnati to face the Bengals, who were coming off a Super Bowl appearance the previous season, being a heavy favorite at home against their AFC North rival. However, Pittsburgh came into the Queen City ready to play as S Minkah Fitzpatrick had the game of his life, intercepting QB Joe Burrow at the start of the game for a pick-six and giving Pittsburgh a chance to win it late by blocking an extra point attempt to force overtime.
The year before that, Pittsburgh faced the dauting task of going into Buffalo to kick off the 2021 regular season against QB Josh Allen and a Bills squad that was seen as having one of the best rosters in the league. The Bills were coming off a 13-3 season where they won the AFC East and lost in the AFC Divisional Round to the Kansas City Chiefs in a heartbreaker, looking primed to push Kansas City for the AFC crown in 2021. However, Pittsburgh managed to contain Allen and the Bills offense, holding them to 16 points as the special teams units came up big for Pittsburgh with a blocked punt that LB Ulysees Gilbert III returned for a touchdown.
In both cases, the Steelers managed to knock off an AFC heavyweight, winning as the underdog in the matchup. Pittsburgh make not be as much of an underdog in this matchup against San Francisco, but the 49ers still are a dangerous team on both sides of the football. Their offense looked unstoppable at times last season as QB Brock Purdy did a great job distributing the football to the various weapons on the roster, having RB Christian McCaffrey, WRs Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk, and TE George Kittle tear through defenses with big splash plays after the catch.
While DE Nick Bosa may miss the game due to a contract dispute, San Francisco’s defense still looks stout with DL Javon Hargrave, LBs Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw, CB Charvarius Ward, and S Talanoa Hufanga all providing splash-play capabilities at all levels of the defense.
The Steelers will have their work cut out for them to secure the win at home Sunday, but they’ve faced long odds before and overcome the stigma of being the underdog heading into a Week One matchup. Their roster is much improved, and the team looked sharp during preseason action, getting the better of a Bills team that dismantled them last season in Buffalo in QB Kenny Pickett’s first NFL start. It’ll be a clean slate for both teams when the ball gets kicked off Sunday afternoon, but Pittsburgh is primed to play the upset yet again to another hopeful title contender to open the regular season.
