Three Primetime Predictions for Giants-Steelers

The New York Giants and Pittsburgh Steelers, two teams heading in opposite directions, Monday Night Football.

The 2-5 Giants are in last place in the NFC East and are spiraling out of control with no end in sight. Their offense has been poor all season long, but the last two games have been an absolute embarrassment as they have scored a total of 10 points in that span.

The 5-2 Steelers have had a unique seven weeks. Justin Fields was the starting quarterback and helped them to a 4-2 record, but the offense left much to be desired. Last week, they turned to veteran Russell Wilson, who threw two touchdown passes and another in the Steelers’ 37-15 loss to the New York Jets.

This week, the Steelers are the heavy favorites to beat the Giants in what is sure to be a classic defensive battle. Here are our predictions for what will happen with the Giants and Steelers in Week 8.

Former 2021 first-round pick Najee Harris has surpassed 1,000 yards in every season he has played so far. Two weeks ago against the Las Vegas Raiders, Harris had 14 carries for 106 yards and a touchdown. He followed that up with 102 yards on 20 carries and another touchdown against the Jets last week.

The Giants have struggled to stop the run for many seasons, and that trend continues this year. Last week, they allowed former Giant Saquon Barkley to rush for 176 yards and a touchdown in a 28-3 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Giants allow league-leading 5.4 yards 138.1 rushing yards per rush and per game, failing to stop opposing ball carriers.

Every offense needs to think they can go crazy against the Giants, and the Steelers need to think the same this week.

The Giants currently lead the league with 31 points. The Giants’ passing attack has been a bright spot so far, led by defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence, who has already scored nine homers on the season.

They had five sacks last week against the Eagles, four against Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals the week before, and a whopping seven sacks against the Seattle Seahawks before that.

With Wilson now headed to the Steelers, it will be difficult to contain him given his ability to evade pressure and escape the pocket. But the Giants were able to quickly fill their pockets and get to the quarterback, as they did against Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts early last week.

Lawrence, Brian Burns and Azeez Ojulari should be able to combine for multiple sacks on the former Super Bowl MVP.

The Steelers defense is allowing the second-fewest points per game this season at 14.4. The Giants’ offense is averaging just 14.1 points per game this season. With both tackles a big question mark (Joshua Eazeudu preparing to make his second start and Jermaine Eluemunor dealing with a groin issue) it’s fair to wonder if the Giants can slow down the Steeler pass rush.

This could be another game where the Giants’ offense looks out of sync. They bowl pretty far from the sticks and fail to set up any rushing attack. They scored only 10 points against defenses that were not very good in the last two games.

This offense isn’t going anywhere with Jones at the helm. If they can get the ball to rookie Malik Nabers, that could ignite a spark. However, scoring two goals in this offense seems impossible for now.

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