Sep 11, 2020 5 min read

The Steelers couldn’t have hand-picked a better opponent than the Giants on a Monday night for their regular season opener.

New York is coming off a 4-12 season in which the Giants were 27th in the league in total defense and 30th in scoring defense and did precious little to improve on that side of the ball.

Quarterback Daniel Jones was sacked 38 times in 13 games last season and threw 12 interceptions while also fumbling 12 times.

This sets up well as a game in which the Steelers can ease Ben Roethlisberger back into things.

When the Steelers play the Giants at MetLife Stadium Monday night, it will be a year almost to the day since Roethlisberger has thrown a pass in an NFL game. And the quarterback has admitted to being nervous throughout the process as he works his way back from tearing three flexor tendons completely off the bone in his throwing elbow.

“You always have a little bit of jitters and nerves for the first game, but the way I feel now is more than I have felt in a very long time,” Roethlisberger said. “I’m sure it’s only going to intensify as the week goes on. Then, Monday night, I’m sure I’m going to be shaking like a leaf. It’s one of those things that you get out there, and hopefully, it all comes back to me really quick. There’s going to be rust. There’s no doubt about it, but hopefully, we can get it knocked off sooner than later.”

Given the Giants’ offensive and defensive inadequacies, it might not matter. Roethlisberger and the Steelers should have time to ease their way into this one.

• Cam Heyward’s contract extension is essentially a two-year deal. Heyward’s deal gave him a $17.5 million signing bonus and he received a $2.5 million roster bonus on Friday. He then has base salaries for a little more than $31 million over the final two years of the deal in 2023 and 2024.

The Steelers can get out of it pretty cheaply after the 2022 season, assuming they don’t restructure his deal, as they are so accustomed to doing to create cap space.

In fact, after restructuring David DeCastro’s deal last week, the Steelers have now pushed $25 million in salary into the 2021 season. That’s twice as much as the next closest team in the league.

• After their horrendous start, the Pirates have played .500 baseball since, going 10-10 heading into Friday night’s game.

And they’ve done so with Bryan Reynolds, Gregory Polanco and Josh Bell struggling to hit their weight and half of their pitching staff on IR.

They’re still not a good baseball team. But early on, it looked as if they would be historically bad. Now, they’re just plain bad.

THIS WEEK’S PICKS

Steelers minus 5 ½ at Giants: The Giants will have a rookie at left tackle in Andrew Thomas and a journeyman in Cameron Fleming at right tackle. That’s not a good combination against the Steelers, who became the first team to lead the NFL in sacks three consecutive seasons last year. There’s a good chance they’ll do it again this season, starting with this one against Jones, who holds the ball longer than most quarterbacks. The Steelers also are 16-2 all-time under Mike Tomlin on Monday nights, including winning their past nine. Steelers, 27-13

Ravens (minus 7) over Browns: The Browns have been crushed up the middle of their defense between opt-outs and injuries. That’s not a good place to be completely devoid of talent when you’re playing the team that set the NFL record for single season rushing yards last season. And, the Browns beat the Ravens early last season, so Baltimore is going to remember that. Take the Ravens, 30-20

Chargers (minus 3) over Bengals: The Chargers lost Pro Bowl safety Derwin James in training camp for the season, which is a serious blow to their playoff hopes this year. But they still have plenty of stars all over that defense. And Joe Burrow will be making his NFL debut after having just a few weeks of practice. He’s a good prospect, but it’s a lot to ask for him to win his first career start with so little work. Take the Chargers, 26-21

Packers plus 2 ½ at Vikings: The Vikings have reworked their secondary and also had massive changes up front on defense. That’s not a good recipe for success, at least early on. The Packers, like the Steelers, didn’t have a lot of turnover from what they had last year. And the Vikings also just put top edge rusher Danielle Hunter on injured reserve. Take the Packers, 24-20

Colts (minus 8) at Jaguars: The Jaguars have essentially traded away or released any player of consequence on their roster. If they aren’t tanking this season, they’re sure doing a good job of simulating it. The Colts, meanwhile, fancy themselves a Super Bowl contender. If they are, they should blow the Jaguars out in this one. Take the Colts, 31-14

Dale Lolley covers the Steelers for DKPittsburghSports.com and writes a Sunday column for the Observer-Reporter.