Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Denver Broncos Odds

Betting Odds

Point Spread: Pittsburgh (-9)
Game Total Line: (34.5)
(wagering lines available at 5Dimes)

The fifth-seed Pittsburgh Steelers and the fourth-seed Denver Broncos clash this upcoming Sunday afternoon at Mile High Stadium in the final matchup in this season’s NFL Wildcard Round of the playoffs. The game is scheduled to kick-off at 4:30 p.m. (ET) and it will be broadcast nationally on CBS.

Pittsburgh finished the regular season with a flurry by winning six of its last seven games straight-up, but it could not get past Baltimore in the AFC North after losing the Ravens twice this season. The result was a 12-4 record SU (7-9 against the spread) that was good enough for the top wildcard spot in the playoffs. The total stayed ‘under’ in 10 of its 16 games this season.

A couple of huge question marks for the Steelers heading into this game is the health of two of the team’s biggest stars; quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who has been hampered by a high ankle sprain, and running back Rashard Mendenhall, who is listed as doubtful with a knee injury. The good news is that Isaac Redman was able to pick-up the slack by running for 92 yards in their season-ending 13-9 win over Cleveland as seven-point road favorites.

The Tim Tebow experiment in Denver has taken a turn for the worse at the worst possible time of the year. The offense has been downright awful the past three weeks with a total 40 points in three straight losses. There have been no fourth-quarter miracles during this stretch as Tebow has played poorly for the entire duration of all three games.

Despite the collapse, the Broncos were able to back into the playoffs as AFC West Division champs with an 8-8 SU record. They are 7-9 ATS and the total has gone 9-7 in their 16 games. After going 5-0 ATS in Tebow’s amazing run, the team is now 0-4 ATS in its last four games. Denver’s defense played much better in last Sunday’s 7-3 loss to Kansas City as a one-point home favorite after giving-up a total of 81 points in back-to-back losses to Buffalo and New England.

Pittsburgh is 9-2 ATS in its last 11 playoff games, but just 2-7 ATS in its last nine games on the road. The total has gone ‘over’ in five of its last six road playoff games.

Denver is 5-1 ATS in its last six home playoff games but just 2-6-1 ATS in its last nine games against a team with a winning record. The total has gone ‘over’ in 13 of its last 18 home games.

The road team is 5-1 ATS in the last six meetings and the total has gone ‘over’ in five of the last seven games. These two met in the playoffs in 2006 with the Steelers coming away with a 34-17 victory as three-point road underdogs.

Point Spread Pick

Even with a gimpy Roethlisberger behind center, stick with Pittsburgh to win and cover the nine points against a Denver team that is running on fumes.
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