AFC Championship Sports Betting – Steel Curtain To Fall On Sanchez, Jets

When it comes to making a pick in the AFC Championship sports betting matchup between the Jets and Steelers, it feels like the old mantra of “defense wins championships” has a heavy presence.

The difference in this game is that you could say the same thing about Ben Roethlisberger. For now, you can’t really say that about Mark Sanchez.

Let’s get back to the quarterbacks in a second.

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Instead, let’s get the defensive matchups out of the way for New York. They have to put Antonio Cromartie on Mike Wallace because he’s frankly the only one fast and tall enough to shut down those deep passing routes. Darrelle Revis is actually a better fit against Hines Ward because he loves shutting down high-volume possession receivers better. That leaves the responsibility of the passing game in the hands of guys like Emmanuel Sanders, Heath Miller and Randle-El for the most part.

The problem on the other side of the ball is the battle between Mark Sanchez and Troy Polamalu. Granted, I’ll admit that Polamalu hasn’t been the same since hurting his Achilles tendon, but he’s still a game changer and Sanchez’s passes have been errant all playoffs. He’s had to rely on Braylon Edwards and Santonio Holmes bailing him out, and that’s not always a trend that I can ride in AFC Championship sports betting.

Holmes, however, is perhaps the biggest x-factor for the Jets. After being jettisoned by the Steelers following some bad behavior, Holmes landed with New York and has continued to make one big touchdown play after another. He’s like the Robert Horry of the NFL. His ability to catch in traffic is one of the major reasons the Jets have come through in sports betting all year, and you know that he’d love to stick it to the Steelers.

New York Jets (11-5) vs. Pittsburgh Steelers (12-4)

Sunday, January 23rd — Heinz Field — 6:30pm EST

AFC Championship Sports Betting Line: Pittsburgh -3.5 (39.0)

The problem there is two-fold. The first is that Holmes will have a target on his back the entire game. The second is that the Steelers know how to contain him. They held him to 6 catches and 40 yards in their last meeting during the regular season in NFL sports betting.

The secondary matchups are a welcome nightmare for both teams, since both love to play physical and challenging football, and the rushing games will have equal trouble finding room to run all day.

The real difference in AFC Championship sports betting is the quarterbacks. Ben Roethlisberger has two Super Bowl betting rings. He’s 9-2 SU in the playoffs. He’s impossible to bring down in the pocket. He makes all the throws. In short: he’s a difference maker.

We tend to use two different words in describing Mark Sanchez. Those words are “game” and “manager”. He can’t make all the throws, and some of the throws he does make are awful. What he hasn’t faced in the playoffs yet is a defense willing to blitz him as much as possible, and the Steelers can do just that. In fact, they’re exceptional at disguising blitzes and I think nerves get the better of Sanchez, just like they did last year in the AFC Championship sports betting matchup against the Colts.

Sanchez has a chance to be a very good quarterback, and it certainly helps that he’s on a great team. But the fact remains that Ben Roethlisberger can get it done in the post season, and until I see Sanchez take over a game with his arm I’m not willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

So if you’re asking me to make a decision on which side to take in AFC Championship sports betting between Sanchez and Roethlisberger, I’m going with the guy that already has the hardware.

Furious AFC Championship Sports Betting Pick – Pittsburgh -3.5 (OVER)

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