Pittsburgh @ Minnesota preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 25, 2009 ) Minnesota 17, Pittsburgh 27

The Minnesota Vikings and Pittsburgh Steelers each came into the season with a reasonable expectation of making the playoffs. Instead, when Minnesota hosts the Steelers on Sunday at London's Wembley Stadium, both teams will still be looking for their first win. The Vikings are switching starting quarterbacks and hoping a suspect defense comes around while Pittsburgh is trying to get things figured out on the offensive end.

Minnesota rode Adrian Peterson and a decent defense to a 9-7 record in 2012 but is getting just over four yards per carry from Peterson while the defense surrenders an average of 32 points. The Steelers can’t get much done on the ground, either, and rank 31st in the NFL with an average of 51.7 rushing yards. Just when the offense started to churn out some positive yardage last week against the Chicago Bears, turnovers killed all the momentum.

TV: 1 p.m. ET, CBS. LINE: Steelers -3. O/U: 42.

ABOUT THE STEELERS (0-3): Pittsburgh suffered from offensive line issues for the last several seasons and is particularly weak in that area through the first three games because of the season-ending knee injury suffered by starting center Maurkice Pouncey. Ben Roethlisberger put the game on his shoulders last week against Chicago and ended up throwing two interceptions and losing a pair of fumbles in the 40-23 loss. Roethlisberger caused a minor stir with comments on his radio show about rookie running back Le’Veon Bell’s toughness but quickly backtracked and is hoping Bell (foot) can add another dimension to the offense when he makes his expected NFL debut.

ABOUT THE VIKINGS (0-3): Peterson broke off a 78-yard touchdown run on his first carry in Week 1 but not much since as Minnesota has been forced to go to the air in three straight shootouts. Quarterback Christian Ponder struggled to take advantage of defenses crowding the line to stop Peterson and a fractured rib suffered last week opened the door for Matt Cassel to start in his place. The defensive issues are partially injury-based, and defensive backs Chris Cook, Jamarca Sanford and A.J. Jefferson all have missed practice this week after suffering injuries in last week's 34-27 loss to the Cleveland Browns.

EXTRA POINTS

1. The last team to make the playoffs following an 0-3 start was the 1998 Buffalo Bills.

2. Cassel had twice as many interceptions as touchdowns (12 to 6) and lost seven fumbles in nine games last season with Kansas City.

3.Pittsburgh TE Heath Miller (knee) is having his snaps monitored as he makes his way back from an ACL injury.

PREDICTION: Steelers 28, Vikings 24