The Week 10 matchup Sunday at FedEx Field between the 6-2 Pittsburgh Steelers and the 7-2 Washington Commanders is quietly one of the best games on the schedule across the NFL landscape this week.
The Steelers are coming off of a much-needed bye week and are relatively healed up entering the showdown, while the Commanders are on a roll, having won seven of their last eight games, including three straight.
In the matchup, it’ll be a battle of one of the highest-scoring offenses in football against one of the best defenses at preventing points. The Commanders come into the matchup averaging the third-most points per game at 29.2, while the Steelers’ defense allows just 14.9 points per game, which is second-best in the NFL.
So, something’s got to give. For NFL Network analyst Marc Ross, what will give is the Steelers’ defense.
In the bold predictions piece for NFL.com Saturday morning, Ross predicted that the Commanders will roll to a win in a “coming-of-age statement game” against the Steelers, scoring 30 points offensively while holding the Steelers to less than 20 points, which would mark a blowout win in the NFL.
“One of the true strength-on-strength matchups this week: Pittsburgh’s second-ranked scoring defense (14.9 points per game allowed) vs. Washington’s third-ranked scoring offense (29.2 ppg). In another coming-of-age statement game, Jayden Daniels puts up 30 points, the most the Steelers’ D has allowed all season,” Ross writes for NFL.com regarding the Steelers-Commanders matchup. “Conversely, Dan Quinn’s Commanders defense bursts the Russell Wilson “moon ball” magic by holding Pittsburgh to fewer than 20 points.”
That’s quite the bold prediction and fits exactly what NFL.com was looking for in the piece, considering the Commanders have held an opponent to 20 points or less five times this season, while the Steelers haven’t allowed a single 30-point game from an opponent since Week 4 of last season.
The opponents the Commanders held to 20 points or less this season? That would be the New York Giants (twice), the Chicago Bears, the Carolina Panthers, the Cleveland Browns, and the Arizona Cardinals. Outside of the Cardinals matchup, holding those opponents to 20 points or less isn’t all that impressive.
The Steelers aren’t exactly this explosive, dominant offense—yet—but they’ve started to round into shape since inserting QB Russell Wilson into the starting lineup in Week 7 against the New York Jets. Since then, the Steelers have scored 37 and 26 points, produced explosive plays consistently, and really started to look like a dangerous offense.
They’ll have a tough test ahead of them on Sunday, though, as the Commanders’ offense plays a physical brand of football and is assignment-sound under head coach Dan Quinn and coordinator Joe Whitt Jr.
So, something will have to give. Chances are, neither will break, which should lead to a low-scoring matchup.
But for Ross, it’ll be a, well, commanding win for the Commanders on Sunday.
