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Author: Luke Hovhanesian
Nov 28, 2022 03:18 PM
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Battle of the powerhouse running backs
Week 12 closes as the Pittsburgh Steelers make the trip to Indianapolis to tackle arguably the most disappointing team of 2022, the Colts.
After landing Matt Ryan from the Atlanta Falcons hopes were high for the Colts in the new season, however results have been anything close.
The team slumped to a 3-6-1 record before firing their coach and appointing former ESPN analyst Jeff Saturday for the role with no prior coaching experience.
Ryan looks like a shell of his former self and the team is now facing no concrete direction.
The Steelers have looked okay and hold some key victories over divisional rivals such as the Bengals, but their lack of grit to close out games has cost them dearly.
A really intriguing battle is set and it will take a brave man to tackle this game head-on with strong confidence.
Pittsburgh Steelers @ Indianapolis Colts
NFL Betting Odds: Pittsburgh $2.21 (+2.5) vs Indianapolis $1.67 (-2.5)
Since taking over as coach, Jeff Saturday has simplified the Colts game as much as possible.
Star running back Johnathon Taylor is getting the ball in his hands as much as possible and nearly pulled the Colts to a shock victory over the Philadelphia Eagles.
Another huge performance will be needed by him to push his team closer to victory.
Matt Ryan returned for his first game in a month last week and looked okay without flattering the stat sheet.
He failed to close the game out and he will have his critics off the back of that performance.
The Steelers have looked like world-beaters at times.
Last week they pushed the Bengals to the wire and with a tad more luck, probably come out winners.
However, this has been the story of their year and it is hard to keep making excuses when it is regularly occurring.
Much like the Colts, they will need to get the ball in the hands of their star running back Najee Harris coming off a 2 TD game.
Free NFL Expert Pick: Over 39.5 points @ $1.90
Both teams run offences are good enough to set up play-action.
Kenny Pickett and Matt Ryan will have plenty of time to air the ball out and don't be surprised to see this turn into a shoot-out.
Happy to speck the overs as a result.
