Week 10 of the 2023 National Football League season is here! The Pittsburgh Steelers finish off their three-game home stand by hosting the NFC’s Green Bay Packers. Here’s everything you need to know heading into the game!
What: Green Bay Packers 3-5 at Pittsburgh Steelers 5-3
Where: Acrisure Stadium Pittsburgh, PA
When: 1pmET Sunday November 12th, 2023
Weather: Partly cloudy and 48 degrees. Winds light.
Wagering Information: Steelers -3 O/U 39
Last Week: Green Bay defeated the Los Angeles Rams 20-3 at Lambeau Field while the Steelers held serve at home with a Thursday Night win over Tennessee by the score of 20-16.
TV: CBS Ian Eagle (play-by-play), Charles Davis (analysis), Evan Washburn (field reporter)
Sports USA Media Radio: Josh Appel (play-by-play), Brandon Noble (analysis)
TV Coverage in Your Area: A decent portion of the nation will get this one. Are you one of the lucky ones? Check out 506sports.com.
Radio: Steelers Nation Radio/WDVE Bill Hillgrove (play-by-play), Craig Wolfley (analysis), Missi Matthews (sideline),
Max Starks (sideline)
Head Official: Scott Novak. He’s in his fifth season as a head official. Last time we saw him was in December of last year in the Steelers’ 24-16 win at Carolina. His crew called 12 accepted penalties that day. Novak’s crew has been part of some poorly officiated games in recent years including a missed ‘delay of game’ penalty that gave the Ravens time enough for Justin Tucker to kick a record 66-yard field goal to beat Detroit.
Key Injuries/Game Status (courtesy steelers.com) PIT: No. 39 S Minkah Fitzpatrick (Hamstring) – Out
No. 57 DT Montravius Adams Sr. (Ankle) – Out GB: No. 23 CB Jaire Alexander (Shoulder) – Doubtful
No. 97 DL Kenny Clark (Shoulder) – Questionable, No. 20 S Rudy Ford (Calf) – Questionable, No. 71 C/G Josh Myers (Knee) – Questionable, No. 73 T Yosh Nijman (Back) – Questionable, No. 76 G Jon Runyan (Neck) – Questionable, No. 7 LB Quay Walker (Groin) – Doubtful
Injury Notes: While not “out” the potential for both Jaire Alexander and Quay Walker to miss the game is huge. Both are the best players at their positions… With Adams out, that should give more play time to Keeanu Benton who continues to get better each week.
2023 NFL Ranks:
Total Offense: PIT 30th GB 22nd Passing Offense: PIT 25th GB 24th Rushing Offense: PIT 28th GB 23rd
Total Defense: PIT 12th GB 8th Passing Defense: PIT 19th GB 6th Rushing Defense: PIT 25th GB 18th
AFC North Rankings: Baltimore 7-2, Cleveland 5-3, Pittsburgh 5-3, Cincinnati 5-3
This Week in the AFC North: Cleveland at Baltimore 1pmET, Houston at Cincinnati 1pmET
What You Need to Know: Mike Tomlin is 3-1 all-time against the Packers… The Steelers are 17-8 all-time on nine days rest… Four of Pittsburgh’s five wins have come after trailing in the fourth quarter… T.J. Watt needs 1.0 sack to surpass J.J. Watt (87.5 sacks) for the second most by a player in his first 100 career games since 1982… The Steelers are 4-0 on the season when they surrender 19 points or less… Pittsburgh is 5-1 in games where they win the turnover battle…
Green Bay Packers Names to Know: QB Jordan Love, RB Aaron Jones, DL Rashan Gary, WR Christian Watson, CB Jaire Alexander, DL Kenny Clark, WR Romeo Doubs, LB Quay Walker
What’s at Stake: Green Bay is looking up at Minnesota and Detroit in the NFC North and really can’t afford to get any further behind either team so a win in Pittsburgh is vital. For the Steelers, they find themselves in arguably the toughest division in football with each team at least two games over .500. A home loss here would be devastating with six of their final nine on the road.
All-Time Series: Packers lead 20-16. The Steelers lead 8-7 in Pittsburgh
Last Meeting: In Green Bay 2021. Packers 27 Steelers 17
Postseason History: Packers lead 1-0 (Super Bowl XLV)
Steelers Game Highs vs GB: PASSING: 503 yards Ben Roethlisberger 12/20/2009 RUSHING: 163 yards Rocky Bleier 10/26/1975 RECEIVING:169 yards Antonio Brown 11/26/2017 H SACKS: 2.5 Donta Jones 11/09/1998 INTERCEPTIONS: 1 (11 Different Players)
Check out the latest Steel City Blitz Steelers Podcast for more on the Steelers.
Three Things We Need to See for a Steelers’ Victory:
1. Go Right at Them. The Packers are solid defensively and especially against the pass. With some extra rest and their best rushing performance of the year behind them, I’d like to see the Steelers come out aggressive with Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren. Get those safeties to creep up a bit and then hit some play-action off of it. This is not the type of game where we want to see Kenny Pickett have to throw it more than 25 times. Possess the ball… Run the ball… And establish some dominance now with big divisional games coming.
2. Turnover Love. The Steelers’ winning record can be attributed to a lot of things but getting turnovers has been a big part of their success. Packers’ QB Jordan Love will make mistakes and the Steelers cannot afford to miss those opportunities. Interestingly enough, Love’s last two games have seen him throw six TDs and zero interceptions in a loss to Atlanta and a win over Chicago. He was sacked just once in each of those games as well. Teryl Austin needs to limit Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillon early which could force Love into some throws and situations he may not like. With Cam Heyward back, that should help free up T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith a bit too.
3. Communication is Key. With no Minkah Fitzpatrick anchoring the secondary and no Cole Holcomb at linebacker, it will be paramount for Damontae Kazee, Patrick Peterson and company to make sure they are on the right page. We saw some struggles with this last week against the Titans when it was clear that some guys weren’t in sync with others when in coverage. A full week’s worth of preparation should ease some of those issues but teams always prepare new things in order to force defenses to react quickly. If the Steelers struggle to get where they need to be then it could create some real problems for Teryl Austin.
Prediction: Every loss the Steelers have suffered this season has been by 10 points or more. Every win they’ve had has been by seven points or less. What’s my point? It’s pretty simple really. If the Steelers are going to win then the game needs to be close. If they are going to lose then it will likely be over early. While I don’t see a huge Green Bay victory happening, I must remind myself of the blowout loss to Houston. I sure as hell didn’t see that coming either. With a mini-BYE week behind them I would be very surprised to see a Steelers’ loss on Sunday. That said, it won’t come as an easy win either.
Steelers 22 Packers 16
Season Prediction Record: 4-4
