Pittsburgh Steelers vs Detroit Lions 8/21/21 NFL Picks, Odds, Predictions

The Pittsburgh Steelers meet the Detroit Lions in week 2 NFL preseason action from Heinz Field in Pittsburgh on Saturday.

The Detroit Lions will look to bounce back from a 16-15 loss at the hands of Buffalo to kick off their preseason. David Blough threw for 76 yards on 5 of 6 passing while Jared Goff threw for 56 yards on 7 of 9 passing and Tim Boyle had 38 yards on 8 of 15 through the air. Craig Reynolds had 49 rushing yards to lead the Lions along with a TD while Dedrick Mills rushed for 32 yards on 5 carries. Tom Kennedy led Detroit’s receiving group with 4 catches for 46 yards while Javon McKinley had 40 receiving yards and Tyrell Williams added 30 receiving yards. Defensively, Kevin Strong led Detroit with 6 total tackles including 5 solo tackles while Bruce Hector and Julian Okwara each had a sack for the Lions in the losing effort.

The Pittsburgh Steelers will try to bounce back from a 24-16 win over Philadelphia to start their preseason campaign. Dwayne Haskins saw the bulk of the playing time, throwing for 161 yards and a touchdown on 16 of 22 passing while Mason Rudolph connected on 8 of 9 pass attempts for 77 yards and Joshua Dobbs had 30 receiving yards on 5 of 6 passing with an interception. Tony Brooks-James led the Steelers in rushing with 9 carries for 51 yards while Jaylen Samuels had 10 carries for 45 yards and a touchdown and Anthony McFarland Jr. had 9 carries for 34 yards and a score as well. Rico Bussey led the Steelers with 45 receiving yards coming on 4 catches while Diontae Johnson had 41 receiving yards and Cody White had a team-high 5 grabs for 39 yards. Anthony Johnson also chipped in 38 receiving yards in the win as well as the lone touchdown grab. Defensively, Jamir Jones and Arthur Maulet each had a team-high 4 total tackles with 3 solo tackles with Jones chipping in a sack as well while Lafayette Pitts and Justin Layne each had an interception for Pittsburgh in the win.

Detroit is 4-9 ATS in their last 13 road games and 3-7 ATS in their last 10 games as a road underdog while the under is 4-0 in their last 4 Saturday games. Pittsburgh is 2-5 ATS in their last 7 games overall and 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games as a favorite while the over is 6-2-1 in their last 9 Saturday games.

I guessed we wouldn’t see much winning from Detroit at all this season and didn’t think we’d have to wait until the regular season to see it and I was right. The Lions were competitive, I’ll give them that, but the depth is just not good from this Lions team. Pittsburgh has a lot of experience at QB and the better skill players across the board. I’ll lay the points with the Steelers at home here.