It’s been a long time since the Green Bay Packers visited the Steelers in Pittsburgh, but that won’t be the case on Sunday afternoon when these two teams face off at Acrisure Stadium.

The Packers come to town after beating the LA Rams 20-3 last week, meanwhile the Steelers hope to start stacking wins after their 20-16 victory over the Tennessee Titans.

It will be the Steelers’ first time seeing the Packers since their quarterback position took a massive shift. Green Bay’s Jordan Love is in his first season as the starter after Aaron Rodgers’ departure in the offseason, and bests Pittsburgh’s Kenny Pickett in several categories.

Love has 230 more yards, 6 more touchdowns (double Pickett’s), but Pickett is sporting a higher completion percentage and less interceptions.

This game is crucial for the Steelers, as they’re heading into back to back games vs divisional rivals after the Packers. But it’s incredibly important that the Steelers keep their focus on Green Bay and not get caught looking ahead to visits in Cleveland and Cincinnati in the weeks ahead.

And there is a massive difference between heading into Ohio 6-3 and 5-4.

On offense, Matt Canada has said he is going to remain on the sidelines Sunday as his unit tries to build off of some momentum from last Thursday’s win. Kenny Pickett went 19/30 for 160 yards and a touchdown. Had Pickett made some of the simple throws, the Steelers may have finally crossed that elusive 400 yard threshold on offense.

Despite the 326 yards they did have, absolutely none of those came from George Pickens, who actually finished Thursday with -1 receiving yards.

Over the long week, Pickens’ actions on Instagram made headlines not just here in Pittsburgh, but in national circles as well. Mike Tomlin dismissed it as a non-issue, but all eyes will be on Pickens this week to see how he and the team responds to the questions surrounding him over the past few days.

I’m willing to bet the very first passing play of the game for the Steelers is directed to Pickens. Pittsburgh will want to get him engaged early and hopefully, that can get him humming for the rest of the game.

In addition, Pickens himself will want to bounce back from a forgettable game by his standards. A day finished with negative receiving yards is something any wide receiver hates, but Pickens is a fierce competitor, and after a sloppy miscue cost him a touchdown against Tennessee, he will be extra motivated to turn the page in a hurry.

The Steelers will also look to keep the good times going in the running game. Jaylen Warren had another great game, but the much maligned Najee Harris finally broke through and put together a nice 69 rushing yards. But the eye test made him loom much better, and hopefully that game was the spark he needed to turn his season around.

Green Bay does have playmakers on defense. Despite their 3-5 record, the Packers are a near top-10 defense in total yards against (11th) and are a top-10 defense through the air (9th).

As for the Steelers defense, they will have to deal with a rather thin linebacker position. Cole Holcomb is done for the season and Elandon Roberts’ status is cloudy for Sunday. That means a big time opportunity for a guy like Kwon Alexander, who made the game-ending interception against the Titans.

However, the Packers struggle on offense, which means the Steelers defense should be able to contain both the run and pass attack from Green Bay.

The Packers rank 22nd in both passing and rushing offense, and are going against a highly touted Steelers defense that has won Pittsburgh several games this year.

Above all else, this is somewhat of a trap game for the Steelers. It’s easy for both the team and the fans to look ahead to the next two games, against great divisional rivals in games that could very well decide playoff spots in the AFC.

But it cannot be understated how much better it will be for the Steelers to walk into Ohio with a 6-3 record as opposed to a 5-4 record. They need to be focused on the Packers, and secure the win there first, before we can move on to AFC North football.

(Featured photo of Steelers vs Packers from 2021 by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)