The Pittsburgh Steelers have played six games in 2024. Four of them have been one-score games, and five have been down to the wire. The Steelers finally got a break from a close game last week, as they handled business in a dominant 32-13 win over the Las Vegas Raiders.
That was a nice break, and it surely gave Steelers fans a chance to breathe after a stressful beginning to the season. However, it looks like Pittsburgh has another close affair on the way this week. The Steelers return home to take on the New York Jets. They’ll be in primetime once again, with this being Pittsburgh’s second ‘Sunday Night Football’ appearance of the year.
The game is so close on paper that even NFL.com’s analysts remain split when it comes to picking a winner. On Tuesday, the NFL’s YouTube channel posted a preview video of this week’s showdown. At the end of the video, 10 analysts attempted to predict both the winner, and the final score of the game. Of those 10 analysts, there isn’t a significant push for either side. Five analysts are rolling with Pittsburgh while the other five are confident in New York.
For what it’s worth, most analysts are predicting a close game on Sunday. Of the 10 analysts, seven are predicting a one-score game with only three willing to go beyond that.
On paper, the Steelers seem like the better option. They’re coming off a dominant road win and sport a 4-2 record. The Jets are coming off their third consecutive loss, pushing them down to 2-4, and played an extremely frustrating game in their loss to the Buffalo Bills on ‘Monday Night Football’ earlier this week. To make things even better for Pittsburgh, it gets the Jets at home.
So, why are the analysts split down the middle, and not in favor of the Steelers?
Well, one major reason for that is Davante Adams. The star wide receiver has been in the headlines quite a bit in recent weeks after requesting a trade from the Las Vegas Raiders. He was rumored to potentially go to a few teams, including the Steelers.
However, rather unsurprisingly, Adams ended up being traded to the Jets on Tuesday. He now reunites with his former quarterback, Aaron Rodgers. The two spent time together as members of the Green Bay Packers from 2014 to 2021 and formed a lethal duo.
Now, they team up for the first time in a couple of years on the Jets. We don’t know how Adams will look with his new team just yet. What we do know, is that he immediately makes the Jets’ offense much more threatening. Pittsburgh gets the first look at the Jets’ new offense, and that’s likely the reason the analysts remain so split on the game.
