Packers vs. Steelers: Lombardi Ave staff predictions

The Lombardi Ave writers have made their predictions ahead of the Green Bay Packers’ Week 12 matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Make no mistake, Mike McCarthy’s team needs to put together a near-perfect game to take down the talented Steelers. Can Brett Hundley lead Green Bay to victory?

Here’s what the Lombardi Ave staff think will happen at Heinz Field on Sunday night.

Joe D’Aloisio: Lets be honest, it will take a miracle for the Packers to take down the Steelers in their primetime matchup at Heinz Field.

Green Bay has lost four of their last five games and they take on a Steelers team that has won five straight and sit atop the AFC at 8-2.

Brett Hundley continues to struggle and hasn’t progressed since he became the starting quarterback. Ben Roethlisberger and company will have a field day against the Packers defense.

Last time Big Ben played the Packers at Heinz, he pummeled them and threw for over 500 yards, and that can easily happen again. Green Bay does not have the talent to contain both Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell. If you like blowouts, you’ll enjoy this game. Steelers 35, Packers 13

Evan Siegel: The Packers defense will be outmatched by the speed of the Steelers. They will have no answers for Le’Veon Bell or Antonio Brown and will give up a ton of yards to the superior Steelers.

Offensively, Brett Hundley is morbidly unprepared for this game. Against a fast, athletic, chance-taking defense he will make poor decisions and throw at least two picks. The Packers will be lucky to keep the game close by halftime, and will get humiliated on national television. Steelers 37, Packers 13

Ralph Mancini: Do the Packers have a chance in this one? They certainly do. This is the Steelers we’re talking about, a team that is notorious for overlooking opponents when they’re installed as the heavy favorites.

The one problem with that is the fact that this is primetime standalone game and not a one o’ clock snooze fest versus the Browns.

Pittsburgh typically shows up in these spots, as Ben Roethlisberger turns it up a notch under the lights. In his last five primetime regular-season contests, in fact, the five-time Pro Bowler has a 16:2 touchdown-to-interception ratio.

But keeping Big Ben under wraps may not be the visiting team’s most pressing concern. Instead, the new age Steel Curtain defense is an unforgiving group, particularly with a struggling Brett Hundley behind center.

Keith Butler’s unit ranks second to only the Jaguars D in points allowed (16.5) and sacks (34).

The Packers could keep it close only if they rely on Jamaal Williams to carry the offensive load, but gaining three yards a pop won’t cut it. The rookie ball carrier will need to put up the finest performance of the year to keep the pressure off his quarterback.

A strong running game will allow Mike McCarthy to call a conservative game plan in which Hundley will merely be expected to make the simplest of throws (i.e. lots of half-field reads and boot-action plays).

However, that sounds like more of fool-proof formula that would work against a team with limited firepower, not the Black and Gold.

Look for the Steelers to win this one going away. Pittsburgh 33, Packers 16

Brad Miller: The Packers are coming at a crossroads for their season.

Even with a win they will have a tough time winning the division. Minnesota would need to have an epic collapse (which has happened before).

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It really boils down to Brett Hundley. If he can just become the feared term “game manager” the Packers have enough talent on offense and defense to win the games they are supposed to win. If he does more that they may be able to pull off some upsets along the way. Like this week’s game.

If Hundley continues playing as he has for the last four weeks then the Packers will be their own worst enemy. All the talk from Hundley and Coach McCarthy about “it is on me” and “we need to play better” is just empty words if they don’t fix the issues.

The Steelers are playing some of their best football this year. The Killer B’s are living up to their billing: Big Ben, Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell.

As for this game, it would have been a great game if Rodgers was playing. A tremendous clash of two powerhouse teams. But, a healthy Rodgers isn’t coming out of the tunnel Sunday. It will be Hundley under center and the Steelers will be throwing the kitchen sink at him.

I don’t believe the Packers can keep up with the B’s. They will fall fairly convincingly to the home team. Steelers 27, Packers 10

Freddie Boston: This could get ugly in a hurry. Fresh off a shutout at home to Baltimore, the Packers run into another talented AFC North team this week. But unlike the Ravens, Sunday’s opponents know how to play offense. Dom Capers is going to have headaches all day long as he tries to contain Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown.

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Green Bay needs to somehow keep this low scoring, but Capers’ defense will struggle to slow down Pittsburgh’s talented offense. Steelers 37, Packers 7

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