The Pittsburgh Steelers used to thrive off of the Big B\u2019s. Now Le\u2019Veon Bell is gone, Antonio Brown is out of the league and Ben Roethlisberger is out for the season. Likely down to a third-string quarterback, can the Pittsburgh Steelers go on the road and beat the Los Angeles Chargers? They\u2019ll have a chance as the Chargers have a ton of injuries and just lost at home to Denver last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Steelers\u2019 defense has done its part the last few weeks and yet not had much to show for it. Pittsburgh forced five turnovers against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 3. They forced three more against the Baltimore Ravens last week. Even so, they\u2019re 0-2 in those games. While that\u2019s the bad news, the good news is that this defense is playing really well right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They should be able to feast on a Los Angeles Chargers offense that is completely decimated by injuries. The offensive line is in shambles as Russell Okung is out and now Mike Pouncey was put on injured reserve. If the Denver Broncos can keep this unit under wraps, so can the Steelers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On offense, the Chargers would be alright if they were at 100% but they\u2019re not. All-Pro safety Derwin James is out. One of their top pass rushers Melvin Ingram is out. That\u2019s just the start of the laundry list. If the Steelers can run the ball a little bit here and complete some first downs, they might be able to build some confidence for third-stringer Devlin Hodges and find a way to a win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even though Los Angeles has struggled on offense, the Chargers\u2019 defense has been good \u2013 not spectacular, but perfectly solid. The Bolts have allowed more than 24 points only once this season, and that was when they allowed 27 to the Houston Texans, who scored 53 this past Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons. The Chargers have allowed an average of 18.8 points per game this season, which should be a winning total most of the time in the NFL.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then consider the fact that Pittsburgh backup quarterback Mason Rudolph, filling in for the injured Ben Roethlisberger, has been limited in practice this week after suffering a concussion. There is a good chance that third-stringer Devlin Hodges makes his first career road start. The Chargers should be able to take advantage of that. Their defense has been strong enough to merit trust against a vulnerable and unproven quarterback. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The struggles of these offenses and the quality of these defenses should produce a very ugly and low-scoring game. The amount of injuries on both sides of the ball for the Chargers and the offensive injuries for the Steelers takes a lot of explosiveness out of this game. Look for these teams to struggle to move the ball and score.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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