Pittsburgh Steelers at Washington Redskins Odds
We save the best for last in Week 9 NFL betting action as the 5-2 Pittsburgh Steelers take on the 6-2 Washington Redskins on Monday Night Football. Odds makers have this one going right down to the wire with the home Redskins getting inked in as the 2-point favorite with the total set at 36.5.
The Steelers are a perfect 5-0 against the AFC this season, but they are 0-2 against the NFC and both of those losses just happened to be against NFC East opponents (Eagles, Giants). The Steelers will try to avoid a third straight blemish against the NFC’s toughest division this week.
Based on 2007 NFL winning percentages, Pittsburgh has the toughest schedule in the league this season. Of its 16 regular season games, Pittsburgh only faces two teams that had losing records last season. Thus far, the Steelers have navigated through their challenging slate well with the exception of two tough battles with the NFC East. It has been those two games where Pittsburgh’s weakness has been brought to the forefront. Both the Eagles and the Giants lived in the Steelers backfield, taking advantage of a weak offensive line that has struggled without All-Pro guard Alan Faneco, whom they lost in free agency. QB Ben Roethlisberger has been sacked 23 times this season -third-most in the NFL – with a majority of those coming against NFC East opponents.
Big Ben was sacked eight times against the Eagles and five more times against the Giants. The constant pressure really got to him against New York as he was forced into four interceptions.
The Steelers are hoping their feature back, Willie Parker, can return from a knee injury that has kept him out of the past four games. Coach Tomlin said Parker will test the knee this week before a decision is made on his status. They will get a boost from the return of wide receiver Santonio Holmes. He was suspended by the Steelers for last Sunday’s game after being charged with possession of a small amount of marijuana.
We all know the talent that this football team has and it will also have a little bit of history on its side this week to try and stop its drought against the NFC East. Pittsburgh has won each of the last three meeting with the Skins.
While the Redskins have not been as prolific at sacking the QB as its division rivals, the Steelers know that this is no defense to be taken lightly. The Skins have the NFL’s sixth-ranked defense, allowing only 278.1 yards per game.
The defense has also greatly benefited from a clock-gobbling offense. Washington is fourth in the league in time of possession (32:31) thanks to the efficient quarterback play of Jason Campbell and the hard-nosed running of Clinton Portis, the current NFL rushing leader.
It was Campbell who hurt the Skins as much as he helped them last season throwing 11 interceptions and only managing a 77.6 passer rating. This season, Campbell has been the difference. He has eight touchdown passes and no interceptions with a passer rating of 100.5.
He was 23 of 28 for 328 yards in Washington’s win over the Lions last Sunday.
Clinton Portis is having an MVP type season. He has 944 rushing yards, gaining at least 120 in each of his past five games. He could hit a brick wall this week however. Pittsburgh is third in the NFL against the run allowing only 71.6 yards per game. In two career games against the Steelers while playing for the Broncos, Portis managed just 64 combined yards.
