Pittsburgh Steelers (6-2 SU, 5-3 ATS) vs. Indianapolis Colts (3-6 SU, 5-4 ATS)
Week 10 NFL
Date/Time: Sunday, November 12, 2017 at 1PM EST
Where: Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, Indiana
TV: CBS
By Loot, NFL Football Handicapper, Lootmeister.com
Point Spread: PIT -10/IND +10
Over/Under Total: 44
The Pittsburgh Steelers come to Lucas Oil Stadium on Sunday for a week 10 matchup with the Indianapolis Colts. Pittsburgh is coming off the bye week, which followed a nice run of three straight wins to get to 6-2 on the season. And that was with not everything really going their way, namely an offense that has dealt with a lot of issues. They beat Detroit on the road 20-15 in their game before the break. One imagines how well they will do when they really get on a roll. This week they face an Indy bunch that was able to get their third win of the season on Sunday with a 20-14 win over the Texans. Granted, it came against a compromised Houston team, but they were good on both sides of the ball and even with all their issues, they have shown some pluck, especially with a 5-4 ATS record. Those looking for easy pickings with Indy this season have been let down more often than not.
Pittsburgh has not been the team everyone expected. Featuring a top quarterback in Ben Roethlisberger, with top-of-the-line talent around him like Le'Veon Bell and Antonio Brown, the reason to like the Steelers was their offense. It's been the other side of the ball that has done most of the heavy-lifting. They are averaging less than 21 points a game on offense. But on the other side of the ball, they have grown into one of the more rigid defenses in the league. And for a team to be able to make it work amid a character reversal says a lot about the Steelers in the 2017 season.
The Pittsburgh offense has some issues. There are promising signs, like the growth of JuJu Smith-Schuster, who had 193 yards against Detroit in their last game. But finding consistent producers on offense other than Big Ben, Bell, and Brown has been problematic. Bell wasn't great against Detroit, but he has been coming up big in recent weeks and should be a major factor in the second half of the season. Brown again finds himself atop the receiving yards category. Still, only once in their last four games have they topped 20 points of scoring.
This Steelers defense is the real deal, built thoughtfully over the course of the last handful of seasons. They have a great mix of blossoming youngsters with capable veterans. The secondary is one of the best in the league and gets a big part of the credit for the Steelers' 6-2 season. Joe Haden and Artie Burns at corner, with Mike Mitchell (questionable), Sean Davis, and others have really been good this season. The middle is a difference-making part of the team, with Ryan Shazier one the best in the league, along with blossoming youngster TJ Watt and improving Vince Williams. Up-front, guys like Cameron Heyward and Jason Hargrave have been getting better over the course of the season. They are among the tops in the league in allowing just over 16 points a game on average.
Granted, the Colts are up against it at 3-6, but Sunday showed they are still trying hard and can still make things happen, even without Andrew Luck. Contenders they are not, but they aren't laying down either. For them to have their last two games on the road and barely lose by a point and score a win is a nice development for team that really needed one. They now return home for two straight games, which sandwich a bye week and we'll see if they can kick their season into another gear.
On Sunday, Indy quarterback Jacoby Brissett had a good game, throwing for 308 yards and two touchdowns. You can see him starting to warm up to the gig, having joined the team only just before the season started. The acquisition has really paid off and Brissett is showing a lot of spark as of late. He made good use of TY Hilton, who caught two long TD passes, which were a key part of the win. Frank Gore is still producing good work at times out of the backfield. Also in the win, tight end Jack Doyle caught 8 balls. Donte Moncrief is still very quiet this season and more help aerially from people other than Hilton and Doyle would go a long way.
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The Colts' defense hasn't been a big help this season. In most relevant categories, they rank near the bottom. Injuries have really taken their toll and they didn't really have the depth to withstand massive losses on this side of the ball. But on Sunday, enough guys stepped up to make a difference. Barkevious Mingo recovered a fumble. Jabaal Sheard had two sacks. One of Houston's touchdowns was on a defensive score, meaning Indy only gave up one score on the day. They held the Texans to 4-for-14 on third down and forced QB Tom Savage into a very inefficient day. They look for more of the same this week, though against a rested and exponentially-better Steelers offense.
Indy has a look of a team that won't fold easily. Sure, the mind goes right to the possibility that the rested Steelers will march into Indy and mop up the Colts. Or at least handle the spread. One shouldn't be so sure. It almost seems too easy. If the Steelers continue to labor on offense and not get the most of what they have, Indy could hang around and make things uncomfortable for the Steelers and their backers. I see them keeping this one remotely-close.
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