Football Betting – Pats Meet Steelers with Playoff Implications On the Line

Football betting fans know that it is quite possible that the two best teams in the AFC will be meeting on Sunday night when the Pittsburgh Steelers play host to the New England Patriots witbh playoff implications on the line.

When we say that, we mean that the winner of this game may wind up with home field advantage in the playoffs; that is, provided both clubs can win their respective division titles.

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The game is slated to kickoff at 8:20 PM ET at Heinz Field (natural turf) in the Steel City, and Pittsburgh is a four-point favorite in the football betting odds, with the total on the game posted at 45 points.

New England Patriots (6-2 SU, 4-3-1 ATS) at Pittsburgh Steleers (6-2 SU, 5-3 ATS)

Live at Heinz Field

Pittsburgh, PA

Sunday, November 14 –  8:20 PM ET

TV:   NBC

Football Betting Odds:

Pittsburgh -4
New England +4
Total  45

Here are some of the trends as they impact the football betting odds on this game:

·         New England has won five of its last six games SU
·         New England has played eight of its last ten games OVER the total
·         New England has played four of its last five road games OVER the total
·         New England has lost six of its last nine road games SU
·         Pittsburgh has won nine of its last 11 games SU
·         Pittsburgh has played four of its last six games OVER the total
·         Pittsburgh has won 14 of its last 17 home games SU
·         Pittsburgh is 2-4-1 ATS in its last seven home games

These teams haven’t exactly guaranteed themselves anything for the post-season, but they are solid enough to get there, and if and when they do, they will probably be in the running for the home field advantage.

Since head-to-head encounters count as a tie-breaker, this contest takes on some added importance. It is also important to New England because of the fact that the Pats just kind of blacked out and Cleveland last week.

Not that they were as good as that 6-1 record anyway (4-2-1 ATS in football betting prior to last week), but they are also not bad enough to get beat by a rookie quarterback week in and week out either.

Pittsburgh dodged a bullet last week against Cincinnati, and got lucky that the Bengals just ran out of downs in the red zone in the waning moments.

They didn’t let the Cincy running game get any momentum (just 54 yards allowed), but if not for a couple of Bengal miscues right at the start, they may have been staring their second straight defeat in the face.

At least it’s kind of encouraging that Ben Roethlisberger has been sacked only seven times in the four games since he has returned from suspension.

Here are the head-to-head betting trends as they involve the football betting odds on this game:

·         New England has covered seven of the last nine meetings
·         Six of the last seven meetings have gone OVER the total
·         New England has won six of the last eight meetings SU
·         New England has won four of the last five meetings SU as the road team
·         New England has covered five of the last six meetings as the road team
·         Four of the last five meetings in Pittsburgh have gone OVER the total

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I’ll admit that the Patriots’ offense will be faced with something of a dilemma if it can’t get a running game going behind the current back of choice, BenJarvis Green-Ellis (4.1 ypc).

But Tom Brady is one of those quarterbacks who can use the passing game like an extended running game, and although he doesn’t stretch a defense as well as he might with Randy Moss on the flank, he may have more mid-range weapons at his disposal than at any time in the past.

Consider that Wes Welker is still effective, though his numbers are down from last year’s output, and that Aaron Hernandez has already emerged as a play-making tight end in his rookie season (34 catches, 436 yards).

Add to that the versatility of Danny Woodhead and the short-range passing attack is one of the operative factors in the football betting equation.

You’ve got to admit that the presence of Rashard Mendenhall (99 yards last week) is something that is worrisome to the Pats, especially as they had such a difficult time last week with Peyton Hillis, who had 184 yards for the Browns.

But between these two quarterbacks, Big Ben is the one who is more likely to make the critical mistake, and this Patriots team does not have a lot of experience in losing consecutive regular-season games (only once in the last four seasons). We’ll take points with New England in the football betting odds for Sunday night.

JAY’S PLAY:  NEW ENGLAND +4 **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

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