THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL: PITTSBURGH STEELERS AT MINNESOTA VIKINGS

BY ADAM GREENE

We get a game with major playoff implications to open Week 14 as the Pittsburgh Steelers travel to US Bank Stadium to take on the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday Night Football.

Considering both these teams are currently outside looking in with their respective conferences playoff brackets, a loss here could all but end their postseason hopes. A team like the Vikings probably shouldn’t have had a lot to begin with, but Pittsburgh has been a fixture in the postseason. If this is Ben Roethlisberger’s final campaign, and reports are that it is, then it would be nice to see him cash in that playoff ticket one last time.

This will just be the 19^th time the two franchises have met and it will serve as the rubber match, as they are currently tied 9-9. Their most famous face off was in Super Bowl IX where the Terry Bradshaw led Steelers knocked off the Fran Tarkenton led Vikings 16-6.

Pittsburgh has won four of the last five meetings, with the last one coming in Sept. 2017. The Steelers took it 26-9 with Roethlisberger throwing for 243 yards and two touchdowns. Case Keenum (now with the Cleveland Browns) threw for 167 yards in the loss.

PITTSBURGH STEELERS AT MINNESOTA VIKINGS (-3.5, O/U: 44.5)

Location: US Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, Minn.

Broadcast: FOX/NFL Network

Kickoff: Dec. 9, 8:20 p.m.

PITTSBURGH STEELERS (6-5-1)

Pittsburgh kept its postseason hopes on life support with a 20-19 last second victory over the Baltimore Ravens last Sunday. Roethlisberger threw for 236 yards and two touchdowns with Najee Harris rushing 21 times for 71 yards. Dieontae Johnson caught eight passes for 105 yards and two scores. The defense sacked Lamar Jackson seven times and picked him off once while holding Baltimore to just 107 total yards on the ground.

MINNESOTA VIKINGS (5-7)

The Vikings will get to be the answer to a trivia question if the Detroit Lions eventually turn around their franchise as they were the first team to lose to them in 2021 (giving Lions head coach Dan Campbell his first victory), 29-27 as time expired. Kirk Cousins had a spectacular day statistically, throwing for 340 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. Alexander Mattison carried the ball 22 times for 90 yards and a score and Justin Jefferson had 11 catches for 182 yards and a TD. Minnesota’s defense sacked Jared Goff three times and intercepted him once.

THE PICK

Both these teams are oddly connected this season as the Vikings were the first team to lose to the Lions, but the Steelers were the first team to not beat the Lions, tying with them 16-16 a month ago. With the gutty performance and Roethlisberger’s postseason plans at stake, everyone wants to see them plow through Minnesota and eventually grab a Wild Card spot. But this is exactly the kind of game, a game in which they can screw up the league for everyone else, where the Vikings are all but unbeatable. Vikings 24, Steelers 20

Last week

Straight up: 10-4

Against the spread: 11-4

Season

Straight up: 116-77-1

Against the spread: 99-95

Follow Adam Greene on Twitter @TheFirstMan.

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