The unbalance in the division in the NFL right now means that the LA Chargers have a better record than the Pittsburgh Steelers, but it is the Steelers that lead their division while the Chargers sit second in theirs. The Chargers are behind the all-conquering Kansas City Chiefs, while the Steelers don’t have anywhere near that kind of competition inside their division.
Both of these two have lost in Denver in recent weeks, though the Chargers put up a much better performance in the games, and they come here on the back of a fantastic win over Arizona. That was by a scoreline of 45-10 and really highlighted the fantastic season that Philip Rivers is having, once again. The 36-year-old is showing no signs of slowing down at all and looks like he could play for another five years without any problems the way he looks right now.
Pittsburgh have their own veteran quarterback in Ben Roethlisberger, who is also 36 years old. He has thrown for even more yards than Rivers this season, which tells you all you need to know about how he has played. He has over 3600 on the board, but this team has been forced to play through the air a little more due to the absence of Le’Veon Bell. James Conner has been an able substitute for them, but Bell is a special player, and would surely have bagged over 1000 ground yards at this stage, whereas Conner has 849 to his name.
Both teams are involved in a real battle for playoff positions, and we are now approaching the business end of the season. This win is vitally important to both of them, and after seeing the Steelers last week, I think we may see a surprise here. The Chargers have played some very good football in recent weeks, and they should head into this one feeling confident about their own ability, despite travelling away to Pittsburgh.
Both teams look on course to make the playoffs if they keep up their form, but the Chargers look to be the better team here and I think they can cause a surprise by winning in Pittsburgh. This won’t be easy, but they offer good value as outsiders and they appear to have a better chance of winning the game than the betting suggests so I’m taking them to do that in Pittsburgh.
