will kick off the week with Thursday Night Football, the kind of primetime matchup that makes nightmares come true. Starting running back Najee Harris, the offensive line, linebackers, and quarterback Kenny Pickett are all sidelined for this game for the Steelers.
The Patriots (2-10) have little leverage as well; they start Bailey Zappe in place of the interceptions-prone Mac Jones, and their starting running back Rhamondre Stevenson is sidelined due to an ankle injury. JuJu Smith-Schuster and DeVante Parker are the team’s top two wide receivers.
How can the most unenjoyable games be made to be enjoyable? The game needs to have some purpose! Here are our top Steelers vs Patriots player props for Week 14, with odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook, if you want to join in on the action.
Although it will be dangerous to invest in any of these assets to hit the over, the over seems rather attractive given Mitch Trubisky’s passing yard total of 180.5 yards. Nine out of the 12 games played so far this season have seen the Patriots give up 184 or more passing yards to the opposing quarterback; in contrast, Trubisky has recorded 255 passing yards in his last two half-hours of playing in lieu of Pickett.
Though the total points scored in this game is incredibly low—just 30 points according to DraftKings Sportsbook—the Patriots, like the Steelers, have been a defense that bends but does not break, ranking 17th in the league while allowing the fifth-fewest passing touchdowns per game. The Steelers may be without two starting offensive linemen, so the Patriots’ run defense has proven to be more potent than their pass defense. If the run is judged ineffective, this game may shift in favor of the pass.
The Patriots’ 0.02 EPA per dropback allowed ranks fifth-highest among passing defenses this season, while their 54.6% defensive success rate against the pass ranks 11th-lowest, per NFL Next Gen Stats.
Because Kenny Pickett hasn’t given veteran wide receiver Allen Robinson many targets in the middle of the field, Robinson has been relatively quiet this season. From Week 14 onward, Mitch Trubisky could be the answer to that underwhelming usage. Following Pickett’s ankle injury, Trubisky distributed targets fairly evenly throughout the second half of Week 13’s game. Robinson, Pat Freiermuth, Diontae Johnson, and Najee Harris each received three targets. Considering Robinson’s lack of use for the majority of the 2023 season, it was encouraging to see him involved with the other offensive weapons, even though none of them were particularly effective when targeted.
