The Pittsburgh Steelers have been favored to beat the Minnesota Vikings next weekend by 6.5 points, and it is essential for fantasy players and bettors to understand why this line is so big. The Vikings are much too good to be underdogs by 6.5 points, and the Steelers did not play well enough in week one to earn the 6.5 point spread. This writer would bet the Vikings were he a betting man, but it does not matter. The Steelers are not that good yet. They have to show us something better than what we saw against the Browns.
The home field advantage
The home field advantage in Pittsburgh is outstanding, and it is such an advantage that some people would find it more raucous than a place like Green Bay or Seattle. The Terrible Towels are very hard to look at, and it must be difficult to concentrate when they are waving the whole game. Sam Bradford is deadly accurate, and we will find out if he can get over this home field advantage.
The Vikings are good
The Vikings are not 6.5 point underdogs, but the Steelers get the 3 point bump because they are at home. Even so, this game should be even money considering the Vikings were terrific last week, and the Steelers were just ok. The Steelers have to put on a big show to prove that they deserve to be favored in this game, and they need to give us a much better performance on offense.
LeVeon Bell was barely used, and they did not throw downfield very much. Antonio Brown was brilliant, but he cannot win all your games for you.
The Steelers defense
The Steelers defense has to ensure that they are proving that TJ Watt is worth the hype, Joe Haden was the right signing, and all their additions make the most sense.
This franchise has to make a statement against a good team in the Vikings, and they will be very bad if they cannot do that. There are a number of things that could happen to this Pittsburgh defense to make them look terrible, and they cannot expect the Vikings to make mistakes.
Big Ben
Big Ben needs to get the ball to Antonio Brown more, and he must insist that the Steelers are using LeVeon Bell as much as the Vikings are using Dalvin Cook.
It must be disheartening to see Dalvin Cook used so well in Minnesota and watch LeVeon Bell be so ineffective. That is a major problem for the Steelers that must be corrected immediately, and they could easily lose this game if Bell hardly does anything.
The Steelers have to prove themselves, and the Vikings can steal another game. This could be interesting.
