SB Nation St. Louis is continuing to gather NFL Week 16 picks from around the web for the matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and St. Louis Rams. The Steelers have been working to gain home field advantage in the playoffs while Ben Roethlisberger battles through his ankle injury, while the talk in St. Louis has centered around the NFL Draft and the team want to shut down Sam Bradford for the remainder of the year. Vinnie Iyer of AOL Sporting News has released his picks for this week, and here is what he has to say about the Rams' in his Lock of the Week:
St. Louis Rams at Pittsburgh Steelers, Saturday. Look, we get it: Ben Roethlisberger is one tough hombre. He's proved it several times before, so the Steelers need to take a rational approach here by repeating the following: "We can beat the Rams at home with Charlie Batch as our starting quarterback. Or even a retired Kordell Stewart or Neil O'Donnell."
Besides, if Batch plays, his main job would be handing off often to Rashard Mendenhall against the Rams' league-worst run defense (153.4 yards allowed per game, 4.8 yards allowed per carry). The Rams also are working with a makeshift secondary that can't handle deep strikes to Mike Wallace and Antonio Brown. Steelers 45, Rams 3.
As for the rest of the NFC West, here is how Iyer sees the action developing:
- The San Francisco 49ers will continue their push for home field advantage and a first-round by in the playoffs by beating the Seattle Seahawks, 17-10.
- The Arizona Cardinals will finally be eliminated from playoff contention by losing to the Cincinnati Bengals, 23-20.
Iyer is 148-76 for the year-to-date, and went 7-9 straight up in Week 15.
Stay tuned to SB Nation St. Louis for more information, and for in-depth analysis on the St. Louis Rams be sure to visit Turf Show Times. Visit SB Nation NFL for more news and notes around the league.