Death. Taxes. And the Pittsburgh Steelers are going to be in the discussion for the Super Bowl year in and year out. Sure, it's been a while since the Steelers have made it all the way to the Promised Land, but they haven't had a losing season since 2003. That, if nothing else, makes them awfully interesting to watch when it comes to their relatively lofty regular season win total.
Pittsburgh Steelers Regular Season Win Total Odds at BookMaker.eu
Steelers Over 10.5 Wins ( -110)
Steelers Under 10.5 Wins ( -120)
What makes the Steelers so interesting to follow this year is the growth of their defense. Sure, they couldn't stop a great passing game to save their lives, but they also ended up ranking a respectable No. 11 in the league in scoring defense at 19.9 points per game.
When you've got Ben Roethlisberger, Le'Veon Bell and Antonio Brown on the other side of the ball, you're going to win a lot of games when you don't allow 20 points.
There are a heck of a lot of first round picks on this defense, too. Cameron Heyward, Bud Dupree, Ryan Shazier, Lawrence Timmons, Jarvis Jones and Artie Burns all figure to be starters, and these men are really taking shape into a defense which the Steel City can be proud of.
2016 Pittsburgh Steelers Schedule
Opening betting lines for the Steelers in parentheses
Week 1: @ Redskins ( -3)
Week 2: vs. Bengals ( -4)
Week 3: @ Eagles ( -3)
Week 4: vs. Chiefs ( -4)
Week 5: vs. Jets ( -6)
Week 6: @ Dolphins ( -3.5)
Week 7: vs. Patriots (PK)
Week 8: Bye
Week 9: @ Ravens ( -2.5)
Week 10: vs. Cowboys ( -6)
Week 11: @ Browns ( -8.5)
Week 12: @ Colts ( -1.5)
Week 13: vs. Giants ( -7.5)
Week 14: @ Bills ( -2)
Week 15: @ Bengals (PK)
Week 16: vs. Ravens ( -8)
Week 17: vs. Browns
Here's why the Steelers are picked to win 10.5 games this season. This schedule is really paper thin for a team which finished second in its division a campaign ago.
Go ahead and find the games on the schedule in which Pittsburgh will be an underdog. You're not going to find many of them. In fact, you're not going to find any of them right away. Sure, the games in which the Steelers are favored by any sizeable margin are relatively small as well, but being PK or better in all 15 lined games (and they'll surely be favored in Week 17 as well) is ridiculous. The only real challenges seem to be games at home against New England in Week 7 and on the road in Cincinnati in Week 15. (And who knows where the Bengals are going to be at that point?)
QUICK PICK
The Steelers have been the model franchise over the years, and they should be blessed with better health than they had a year ago when they only had Bell for a total of six games. We see no reason why this unit won't ultimately average 400 yards and 30 points per game.
So long as the defense does its job as well, we just don't see how the Steelers won't at least threaten 11 wins. They're the favorites to win the AFC North for a reason, and you'd like to think it's going to take at least 11 wins to get the job done from that standpoint. We see at least six wins coming at home, and no one on this road schedule really worries us that much either. We'll predict Pittsburgh to finish up at 12-4.
NFL Odds: Pittsburgh Steelers Over 10.5 Wins
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