The NFL season finally begins with Thursday Night Football taking place between the New England Patriots and the Pittsburgh Steelers. The game is scheduled for an 8:30 p.m. start time and it will be televised nationally on NBC. Currently the betting odds for the game have the Patriots favored to pick up the win at home.
After all the allegations, the press and seven months of Tom Brady’s future being called into question, Brady suits up tonight to lead the Patriots in regular season action. It’s been a distraction and noise for all football fans and it will probably be mentioned more than once tonight, but at least football is back.
The NFL has an excellent matchup here between the Steelers and Patriots. Pittsburgh, though, will be playing without potential MVP candidate Le’Veon Bell, one of the best backs in the league that certainly will lead the Steelers to several wins this season. Ben Roethlisberger threw for almost 5,000 yards last season and 32 touchdowns, they’re going to have to throw the football quite a bit in this game because of the Bell suspension. Also suspended is their second target wide receiver in Martavis Bryant, who had his suspension denied. Having two major offensive starts out certainly hurts. The Steelers also have some questions on the offensive line, center Maurkice Pouncey is out for a while as well.
Pittsburgh will be short in this contest because of those key losses and the defense did not look good during the preseason, either. Roethlisberger to Antonio Brown could still be a major factor in this game, but can it be enough?
The Patriots have to feel slighted by the off-season and now with Brady back, New England is poised for a win here. They’ll mix in the run and as long as Brady is sharp enough to get the football to Rob Gronkowski and his targets, the Patriots should win.
Free Pick: Patriots
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