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Steelers at Patriots Odds & NFL Picks

Written by Steve Janus on November 28, 2008

The Pittsburgh Steelers visit the New England Patriots this week in a game that could have a big impact on either team as far as the playoff race is concerned. The Steelers need to win to hold off the surging Ravens and the Pats need a win just to keep pace with the rest of the NFL teams in the Wild Card race. New England has gotten the best of the Steelers in recent years, winning 6 of the last 8 meetings between the two teams. This isn’t the same New England team, however, and though they’ve played pretty well without starting quarterback, Tom Brady, they’ve been coming up painfully short in close games, which this could very well be against the Steelers. The Patriots are 1 point favorites this week over the Steelers and the total is set at 39.5 points.

On offense the Steelers have been labeled a run-first team, but they actually throw the ball more than they pass it. Due to various injuries to starting running back, Willie Parker, the Pittsburgh offense has been limited to just 100 yards per game on the ground. They’ve picked up the pace a little in the passing game, though, throwing for 205 yards per game. Neither number is staggering, but they are posting 21.5 points per game, which is normally more than enough to get the job done for the Steelers.

The Steelers currently own the best overall defense in the NFL. They allow only 14.5 points per game, which is the best in the NFL and they only give up 235 total yards per game, also the best in the NFL. The numbers on this side of the ball are impressive. They are holding opposing running backs to only 67 yards per game and just 2.9 yards per carry. The secondary has given up 168 yards per game on just 4.8 yards per pass. With the defense the Steelers have been playing this season it’s easy to say how they can get by on offense with the injuries and scoring problems they’ve had. The Steelers are 1 point underdogs heading into New England.

With Tom Brady out for the season, Matt Cassel and the rest of the New England Patriots offense have done well overall on the season. They are gaining 363 yards per game and scoring a respectable 24.3 points per contest. They are relying a little more on the running game this year, averaging a solid 131 yards per game, but Cassel has played well lately and raised the team average to 232 passing yards per game. They’ll face the best defense the NFL has to offer this week, so Cassel will really have a chance to prove his mettle.

The Patriots are as dominant as teams in the past on defense, but they are still a solid group. They give up 20.2 points per game and 316 total yards of offense. Against the run they are allowing just 100 yards per game and the pass defense has been good, surrendering 216 yards per game, but they are allowing 7.3 yards per completion, which means they’ve given up too many big plays this season. The Pats are favored by 1 point on Sunday.

What’s not to like about a match up between two winning teams with good defenses and a lot on the line this weekend? Cassel and the Patriots have one of their toughest tests to date. The result of Sunday’s game will tell them a lot about how good they really are at this point in the season.

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