Cincy Jungle staff picks for Thursday Night Football and open thread

Thursday Night Football will be a classic showdown from former divisional rivals Tennessee Titans visiting the Pittsburgh Steelers. These teams are pretty far from those classic hard-nosed renditions some may remember. These teams are starting to embrace the new way of the NFL.

The good news for the Steelers is that quarterback Kenny Pickett will play following being a full participant during Wednesday’s practice after being knocked out of Sunday’s game. Pittsburgh’s offense has been a real mess under offensive coordinator Matt Canada, but if they were without Pickett, things could have been even worse.

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They are also getting defensive lineman Cameron Heyward back after his stint on injured reserve with a groin injury. That should be a big lift to a Steeler’s defense that has had issues if TJ Watt can’t take a game over. It may also help since safety Minkah Fitzpatrick will be out due to a hamstring injury that could sideline him for several more games.

This may have been viewed as more of a one-sided matchup if we didn’t witness rookie quarterback Will Levis explode in his debut last week. He threw four touchdowns while completing 65% of his passes. Three of those touchdowns went to DeAndre Hopkins, who is questionable after not practicing Wednesday with a toe injury. If he doesn’t go, then Levis may have tougher sledding.

The story of this game may be whether Levis can repeat his success to will the Titans to a victory against a Steelers team desperate to keep pace in the AFC North.

Here are our staff picks for tonight.

Come join us for tonight’s open thread!