Landry Jones has been the busiest quarterback in the preseason, and if he doesn't throw another pass, he might have the best counting stats of any pivot prior to the start of the regular season.
Jones and his Pittsburgh Steelers are still somewhat handicapped without Bruce Gradkowski in the fold going into this third game of the preseason against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday.
ODDS ANALYSIS
Home field advantage is the difference between these two teams in the eyes of the oddsmakers. Pittsburgh is giving a field goal to the Packers alongside a total of 41.
QUARTERBACK ROTATION
With Tajh Boyd getting cut this week, the Steelers really have no quarterback questions. Jones is going to play at least a full half, if not a full three quarters, and the only time he won't be on the field is when Ben Roethlisberger is. Big Ben only threw three passes last week in his first action of the preseason, and we have a tough time believing he'll do significantly more than that in this one.
After throwing 19 passes in Week 1 of the preseason, we'd bet on Aaron Rodgers being slowed down just a bit in this one. We suspect he'll have fewer than 10 attempts before giving the ball off to Scott Tolzien for probably a bit over a quarter.
Brett Hundley, who looked sharp last week in completing 4-of-6 passes for 60 yards and a TD, will probably get some more reps.
COACHES' MOTIVATION
Mike McCarthy is one of the best coaches in the league when it comes to winning in the preseason. He's 7-2 here in Week 2 of the exhibitions, a stat which bettors cannot ignore.
QUOTE TO NOTE
"We want to play fast and up-tempo the game and create opportunities as much as we can for our offense. That was really the general outlook offensively. For the most part, we got a lot of that done." – Packers coach Mike McCarthy on his offensive philosophy here in the preseason
POSITION BATTLE TO WATCH
The Steelers have some real problems right now in their secondary. They haven't had their projected starting safeties together on the field at the same time yet in the preseason, but Shamarko Thomas and Mike Mitchell are just two of the problems this defense has.
There’s a ton of rookies in the secondary looking to nail down jobs, and this test against the Green Bay offense should be a good one.
INJURIES
Mike Neal is the only player on the PUP list right now for Green Bay. The Steelers don't have any major players on the PUP list at the moment, though Mike Adams is still fighting through a back injury and is questionable for this game, while Gradkowski remains sidelined as well.
ANALYSIS AND PREDICTION
Parlay McCarthy's attitude with an offense which believes it really needs more work in the preseason than it has gotten in previous seasons, and you've got the makings of a Green Bay team which should be favored in all of its exhibitions.
Throw in there the fact that the Steelers are now just 1-9 in their last 10 preseason games overall, and you've got an upset in name only in the making.
Green Bay 24, Pittsburgh 13
BookMaker put out the first point spread for this Sunday game at the Pittsburgh Steelers -3 and a total of 41. Now you can wager in-game while the action unfolds with BookMaker's live betting option.
Access live betting lines from your mobile device at BookMaker Sportsbook! You can wager on sporting events as they unfold on your television with BookMaker's live betting platform. Real-time spreads, totals, props and moneyline odds are all available by clicking here, so start betting with BookMaker today! Week 2 of the preseason continues with the encounter between the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, PA on Sunday, August 23, 2015. This 8:00 p.m. ET duel can be viewed live on NBC 2 and CBS 2.
