Steelers vs. Saints Bold Predictions: Offense Puts on a Show

The Pittsburgh Steelers are officially in France and are ready to take on the New Orleans Saints at the Stade de France in Paris.

Riding a two-game win streak heading into Week 7, the Steelers still have things to clean up as they look to keep pace in the race for both the AFC North and one of three Wild Card spots in the conference.

Regardless, Pittsburgh is 4-2 for a fourth-straight season and has what some may consider a must-win type of game vs. New Orleans given how tough its schedule gets immediately following its Week 9 bye.

With that, here are three bold predictions for the Steelers as they look to take down the Saints.

Steelers Put Up 400+ Yards of Offense

Pittsburgh's offense largely falls near the middle of the pack, averaging the 12th-fewest yards (320.5) and the 15th-fewest points (22.8) per game in the league.

Those numbers are dragged down quite a bit by the team's poor outing against the New England Patriots in Week 2, however, during which they scored just three points with 235 yards of offense.

Under Mike McCarthy, the Steelers have proven that they're at least capable of explosive offensive performances. For example, they scored 30 points with 411 yards in a Week 3 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals and put up 34 points in a Week 5 win over the Indianapolis Colts.

It's possible that Pittsburgh comes out a bit sluggish against the Saints in Paris after arriving later in the week, but the formula is there for the black and gold to have another huge performance.

New Orleans' defense is currently tied with the Arizona Cardinals for the most points allowed per game (29.7) while also giving up the fourth-most yards per contest (377.7).

The Saints have struggled to consistently get after the quarterback too, as their 33.2 percent pressure rate (per SumerSports) is the fourth-worst in the NFL despite having 15 sacks.

The Steelers' offense already had their way with one of the worst defenses in the league in the Colts, and there's no reason they can't do the same vs. New Orleans by finishing with over 400 yards of total offense.

Pittsburgh Forces Two Turnovers

The Saints' offense cannot be taken lightly. Even though first-round wide receiver Jordyn Tyson has yet to play this season with a hamstring injury, while franchise left tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. has been out since Week 3 after undergoing ankle surgery, they are still averaging the 11th-most points (25.3) in the league.

At the same time, quarterback Tyler Shough has thrown five interceptions and lost three fumbles while New Orleans as a whole has turned the ball over 12 times, which is tied for the third-most in the NFL.

Pittsburgh, meanwhile, has 10 takeaways on the year, which is tied with five other teams for the second-most behind the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks at 11.

The Steelers' defense is among the better units in the league, as they allow the sixth-lowest EPA per play (-0.1) and the seventh-fewest yards per game (307.5).

New Orleans is capable of doing a little bit of damage, but Pittsburgh's defense has stepped up and largely made the necessary plays when it's needed to.

Winning the turnover margin is always crucial, and considering how susceptible the Saints are to giving the ball away, the Steelers will end up with two takeaways in this one.

Steelers Win by Two Scores

Pittsburgh is short-handed along the interior of its defensive line with Sebastian Joseph-Day (triceps) joining Derrick Harmon (foot) on the reserve/injured list.

The same can be said at wide receiver, as Michael Pittman Jr. (foot) and Roman Wilson (finger) are on IR as well while Ben Skowronek (calf) will miss his second-straight game.

Cornerback Brandin Echols (hamstring) will be sidelined too, and there are also some questions about Rico Dowdle's (knee) availability after he was deemed questionable to suit up on the Steelers' final injury report of the week.

Still, this is a game the Steelers should win. Again, maybe they aren't at tip-top shape playing overseas, but they're simply the better and more talented team.

The Saints are not a pushover by any means and have the potential to make things tough for Pittsburgh, as evidenced by their comeback win over the Baltimore Ravens on the road in Week 2.

That being said, New Orleans is 2-4 for a reason. Its defense is among the worst in the league, and while its offense is a formidable unit, it's going to have a tough time keeping up with the Steelers.

After notching their first two-score win of the season in Week 5 vs. Indianapolis, who profiles similarly to the Saints, Pittsburgh will do so once again in France and move to 5-2.