Week 2 of the NFL preseason heats up Thursday at 8 p.m. ET when the Pittsburgh Steelers face the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. The Packers are three-point favorites, with the over-under for total points scored set at 42. Before you lock in any Steelers vs. Packers picks, you need to hear from SportsLine NFL expert R.J. White. The CBS Sports NFL editor finished in the top 1 percent of the Las Vegas SuperContest last season, tying for 18th out of a record 2,748 competitors. It was no fluke, either, as he also cashed big-time in the 2015 SuperContest.
If you had placed $100 on each of White's NFL picks last season, you would have won nearly $2,000. Smart bettors tail him.
Now, White has analyzed all the key factors for Steelers vs. Packers and come up with a confident spread pick, which he's sharing over at SportsLine. And you definitely want to hear what he has to say since he's an incredible 16-3 in against-the-spread picks involving the Packers.
White knows both clubs won their preseason openers in blowout fashion despite resting many of their marquee stars. Quarterbacks Aaron Rodgers and Ben Roethlisberger sat out, but both are expected to see snaps Thursday. Pittsburgh receiver Antonio Brown and running back Le'Veon Bell, who has yet to sign his franchise tender, also missed the 31-14 victory over the Eagles.
Steelers rookie Mason Rudolph threw for 101 yards on 7-of-12 passing, while second-year quarterback Joshua Dobbs went 9 of 13 for 91 yards with a touchdown and an interception. They will continue their competition for the third spot behind likely second-stringer Landry Jones, who went 4 of 4 for 81 yards and a touchdown.
The Steelers will also get another look at their running back depth, as Fitzgerald Toussaint and James Conner combined for 54 yards on 11 carries in the opener. Pittsburgh also just signed two offensive linemen in an effort to bolster its depth.
But just because the Steelers looked impressive last week doesn't mean they'll keep it within the spread Thursday. The Packers racked up 445 yards of total offense and 31 first downs with Rodgers on the sideline in their 31-17 win over the Titans. Brett Hundley, DeShone Kizer and Tim Boyle combined for 356 yards on 25-of-47 passing. Each quarterback threw for 100-plus yards and 11 different Packers caught passes.
We can tell you White is leaning toward the over, but he has uncovered a critical x-factor that will determine the outcome of this game. He's only sharing it over at SportsLine.
Who wins Steelers-Packers? And what critical stat determines the outcome? Visit SportsLine here to see which side of the spread you need to jump on Thursday, all from the SuperContest guru who's an incredible 16-3 on Packers games.
