Lawrence vs Pickett will be fun to watch, but I have T-Law playing better and coming out on top. Jacksonville will cruise to the AFC South Title and will turn to games like this one to make statements and increase its seeding in a very deep AFC. Trevor Lawrence and the upstart Jags are out to prove their legitimacy to the league. Following the bye, Pittsburgh will be ready to go in Southern California. The defense lost nearly all its major pieces from its Super Bowl squad two years ago. Outside of Matthew Stafford and Cooper Kupp, LA is depleted beyond recognition. It seems like the Steelers and Ravens have been splitting the season series forever and this year will be no exception. Jackson and the Ravens will be in the midst of a three-game road trip and will be coming in following its week four matchup in Cleveland. Lamar Jackson has historically struggled with the Steelers as he is 2-3 in his career and 1-2 as a starter. Najee Harris will have himself a game as Pittsburgh runs its way to a win against a bad Texas defense. Fortunately for the Steelers, the loss in Vegas will have the team focused coming into the matchup. This has the potential to be a major trap game as the Ravens come to Pittsburgh the next week. This is your stereotypical “Steelers go out west and lay an egg game.” There is no reason they should lose this game, but they will find a way…it always happens against the Raiders, especially on the road. Vegas is not going to be anything special, but Jimmy Garappolo is a serviceable quarterback with good weapons around him. It feels like the Steelers never beat the Raiders and this will not be an exception. Pittsburgh will roll at home in primetime. The Browns haven’t done much to fix that this offseason. I watched this Cleveland team come to Acrisure Stadium week 18 last season and look horrendous. Deshaun Watson still needs to show me something until I start believing in him again. The Browns come to Pittsburgh on Monday Night Football in week two. However, I am going to go with the team I believe is more complete to get the job done on the road. This will be a close, low-scoring game that I would not be surprised to see the Steelers win. While neither should scare the Steelers, the 49ers offensive weaponry and defense should. That leaves the starting quarterback job between Trey Lance and Sam Darnold. There is a major question mark here for San Francisco as Brock Purdy should still be injured to begin the season. Fans will remember that as the game where Antonio Brown kicked the punter in the face. The Steelers will open the season at home for the first time since the 2014 season against the Cleveland Browns. Expect the improvement to be almost instant. The team that went 9-8 last season has vastly improved and will be playing a weak schedule. Of course, all this will be under the leadership of Mike Tomlin. The defensive line is looking more dangerous than ever. These additions will join Alex Highsmith, Cam Heyward, Larry Ogunjobi and a healthy TJ Watt. Kahn kept building his strong draft class with linebacker Nick Herbig and defensive tackle Keeanu Benton from Wisconsin. Pittsburgh also improved on the defensive end as it brought in Patrick Peterson to play along Minkah Fitzpatrick, Levi Wallace and newly drafted Joey Porter Jr. Kahn also secured Pickett two more weapons acquiring Allen Robinson via trade and drafting the 6’7’’ tight end Darnell Washington from Georgia. Kahn then used the draft as he traded up, ahead of the New York Jets, to take Broderick Jones, the 6’4’’ 310-pound tackle out of Ohio State. General manager Omar Kahn went to work this offseason signing veteran guard Isaac Seumalo and tackle Le’Raven Clark. Kenny Pickett will step into his first full season as starter behind a remade offensive line.
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