- When: Sunday, 8:20 pm ET
- Where: Hard Rock Stadium, FL
- Spread: Dolphins (-7.5)
This weekend’s Sunday Night Football matchup will be chock-full of interesting storylines. Brian Flores makes his return to Hard Rock Stadium on the Dolphins’ 50-year anniversary of their undefeated 1972 season. Meanwhile, Tua Tagovailoa returns as the Miami Dolphins will look to end their three-game losing streak against the Steelers.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Coach Mike Tomlin announced that Kenny Pickett cleared concussion protocols and will start for the Steelers. Pickett looked good last week against the Buccaneers before exiting the game, completing 11 of 18 passes with a touchdown. Steelers will also get Pat Freiermuth back, who could be a safety net for Pickett over the middle of the field. Despite these additions, the Steelers rank fourth-worst in total offense averaging under 300 yards per game.
Kenny Pickett and Mitchell Trubisky have received no help from the run game all year long. Things won’t get any easier against the Dolphins’ stout run defense, but they could be able to move the chains through the air since Miami is thin at cornerback. Pittsburgh has no shortage of playmakers at receiver with Diontae Johnson, Chase Claypool, and rookie standout George Pickens. They’ll need to be fed early and often if the Steelers wish to keep up with Miami’s high-scoring offense.
Trying to stop that offense will be a Steelers defense that also ranks fourth-worst in the league, surrendering nearly 400 yards per game. However, they were able to hold off Tom Brady last week while missing their top defensive backs including, Minkah Fitzpatrick. Minkah will make his return tonight against his former team that drafted him in 2018. Additionally, cornerbacks Levi Wallace, James Pierre, and Cam Sutton will also return to play. A welcome surprise for the Steelers has been third-year linebacker Alex Highsmith, who’s already beaten his sack total of 6 last season. However, he has been the only bright spot on a Steelers’ defensive line that has lost TJ Watt.
Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins are finally coming into a game with a stable situation at QB. With all the controversy surrounding Tua and his concussion, it was interesting to see when he’d get brought back. It was a revolving door at the position for the last three weeks with Skylar Thompson and Teddy Bridgewater taking turns starting before eventually getting hurt and swapping places.
While Miami gets Tua back, they are still an unhealthy team trying to get several key players to power through nagging injuries. Last week, the Dolphins lost slot cornerback Nik Needham for the season to a torn Achilles. Now, the top two corners remaining are Xavien Howard and rookie Kader Kohou, who were both ruled questionable Friday. The Dolphins’ two most productive defensive linemen Christian Wilkins and Emmanual Ogbah are also questionable for this upcoming game. Speaking of Miami’s defensive line, they have been awful at getting pressure on the quarterback all year. The sack leader on the team goes to safety Brandon Jones with two.
On the offensive side of the ball, keep an eye out for Terron Armstead‘s status heading into this game. He missed last week due to a toe injury but logged a limited practice on Thursday. The hope was to sit him out last week so Miami could get him back for Tua’s return. Second-year wideout Jaylen Waddle is also questionable for this contest, but Coach Mike Mcdaniel has expressed optimism about his availability this Sunday.
Final Thoughts
The Dolphins hold a slight advantage in this matchup by getting Tua Tagovailoa back and facing a rookie QB at home. What Tua did in the first three weeks of the season can’t be discounted, but it will be interesting to see how quickly he picks back up where he left off. Although this is the first rookie QB Miami will face this year, they’ve had success against rookies in the past, going 4-1 against first-year QBs last season. On the other hand, Kenny Pickett and the Steelers will have a prime opportunity to exploit a banged-up Dolphins defense.
(Odds from DraftKings Sportsbook)
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