Steelers vs. Lions 2017: Start time, TV schedule for ‘Sunday Night Football’

Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford looked like he was worth every bit of that $135 million contract during the first four weeks of the season, but since he’s struggled to lead his team to victories. After a rocky beginning the Pittsburgh Steelers and embattled quarterback Ben Roethlisberger have become the team we thought they were and look like one of the AFC’s best teams so far. These teams will clash on Sunday Night Football at 8:30 p.m. ET on NBC (live stream)

The Steelers have been clicking on all cylinders after getting thrashed by Jacksonville. After a slow start to the season, Le’Veon Bell has rushed for more than 100 yards in three of the Steelers’ last four game. Unsurprisingly, their only loss during that span came when Bell didn’t go over 100 yards. If Bell continues to run the ball like he has, the Steelers’ offense becomes virtually unstoppable.

The Lions lost two straight games heading into their bye and used their extra week to prepare for the Steelers. In the Lions last two losses their defense gave up a total of 79 points. The defense has struggled to generate takeaways and to stop opposing offenses from scoring. On the other side, the offense has slightly stagnated, turning the ball over six times in their last two game. In their last game, they turned over the ball more times (5) than they had for the entire season to that point (3). If Stafford can return to his early season form then theres a good chance the Lions can return to winning.

Time: 8:30 p.m. ET

Location: Ford Field, Detroit

TV: NBC

Streaming: NBCSports.com

Odds: The Steelers are favored by 3 points

rookie receiver Juju Smith-Schuster lost his bicycle, launched a national initiative to locate said bicycle, and curved Mia Khalifa on Twitter, uniting the city of Pittsburgh in a manner unseen since the Penguins parade this past summer.

To put it very bluntly, the Steelers have one receiver—a talented, 20-year-old rookie who orchestrates Dragon Ball Z- and hide-and-seek-themed celebrations and whose bicycle saga is the feel-good story of 2017—who is very easy to like,

To Detroit’s credit, it did its very best to avoid this fate. Last off-season, the Lions signed T.J. Langand Rick Wagner in free agency and acquired former No. 2 overall pick Greg Robinson via trade. The problem with the latter transaction is that Greg Robinson sucks at football, which has created a yawning aperture at debatably the most important slot on the line. Procuring Greg Robinson to serve as your $135 million investment’s blindside protector is like purchasing car insurance from The General to protect your Lamborghini.

The Lions pass offense has been in freefall since the Giants game. Matthew Stafford hasn’t been horrible, but he’s by no means been what the Lions expect of him. He’s failed to surpass the defense’s passer rating allowed average in his past four contests, and has finished with a passer rating above 82 just once in his past four.

As a team, the Lions rank just 27th in yards per attempt (6.3), 26th in completion percentage (60.4) and 17th in passer rating (89.3).

And to make matters worse, despite the bye week, the Lions will likely be missing two key pieces to their offense: left tackle Greg Robinson and wide receiver Golden Tate.

Robinson hasn’t been good this year, but Detroit’s options behind him include a former college defensive end who has never started an NFL game (Brian Mihalik) or a guy who has started just three games in his career, the last being three years ago (Bryce Harris).

Tate could potentially play after he surprisingly returned to practice this week, but he still seems doubtful considering Jace Billingsley was promoted to the active roster this week.

No team who has played six games has given up more sacks (23) than the Lions. Matthew Stafford can’t throw the ball if he’s on his back all game. Detroit has to figure something out, because this Pittsburgh defensive line is a dominant unit and will make Sunday as difficult for Stafford as possible. The answer might lie in running the ball, if they could generate any sort of rushing attack. Detroit ranks 26th in yards per game, with just 84. This is putting too much pressure on the pass offense to take up the slack. If Detroit wants to win, then they must protect their quarterback and run the offense effectively.

The Lions are probably the best team in the NFC North now due to Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ injury. But, they still have flaws and they don’t have the makeup of team that can make a deep playoff run. The Steelers do, and the Killer B’s still can dominate on the offensive side of the ball when everyones in sync. This defensive unit is the best Pittsburgh has had in a couple of years and they look like one of the AFC’s premier teams. The Lions don’t seem like they can pull this one out, the Steelers should be able to secure a win in this Sunday night clash. Our SB Nation experts are split. Half took the Lions, half took the Steelers. OddsShark’s computer tabbed Pittsburgh.