Week 1: Pittsburgh Steelers
While we can all celebrate the cancellation of the seemingly annual matchup in Dallas to kickoff the season, a primetime bout with the Pittsburgh Steelers takes its place instead.
While an aging Big Ben doesn’t necessarily make me nervous, facing All-Pro TJ Watt, Devin Bush, Minkah Fitzpatrick, and the 4th ranked pass defense from 2019 does.
Facing one of the league’s best defenses at home does help a little, but we need to take into consideration that normally, a home Monday Night Football game to start the season would mean a rowdy, energetic crowd packed into MetLife. However, amid COVID-19 restrictions, fans being packed into stadiums (at least at full capacity) seems like wishful thinking at this point.
The “home field” element will likely not be as impactful as it normally would be.
This week one matchup won’t be a tell-all for the season, as it should be expected most teams will not look 100% considering the strange off-season, but the Steelers certainly aren’t dealing with the coaching and schematic turnovers that the NY Giants are facing.
We will also most likely get to watch Andrew Thomas face-off vs one of the best young edge rushers in the league in TJ Watt.
It will be a huge opportunity for Jason Garrett, Daniel Jones, and the offense to be thrown into the fire and show where they’re at.