NFL Betting Odds: New York Jets at Pittsburgh Steelers

Added on Jan 21, 2011 by Jack Thurman in

NFL

The New York Jets have already pulled one major upset in eliminating the New England Patriots and they’ll look to pull another and punch their ticket to the Super Bowl as they travel to Pittsburgh to take on the Steelers. New York stunned New England 28-21 in Foxboro, Massachusetts while Pittsburgh outlasted their arch rival Baltimore Ravens last weekend to advance to the AFC Championship game. The Jets will be trying to return to the Super Bowl for the first time since Joe Namath’s legacy defining victory over the Baltimore Colts in 1968.

New York Jets at Pittsburgh Steelers
January 23, 2011 3:30 PM Pacific

You can say a lot of things about the New York Jets, but you can never say they let off field distractions influence their on field performance. Off the field, they’ve had a disastrous season with one controversy after another including their role in the Brett Favre naughty text message scandal, a subsequent lawsuit filed against the time by still more alleged harassment victims of ‘The Gunslinger’ and recent allegations that Rex Ryan’s wife may have made any number of explicit fetish videos. Despite all of that, the Jets enter this contest 13-5 SU/11-7 ATS and have been especially good on the road and as football betting underdog. New York is 6-2 SU/ATS when getting points and 8-2 SU/7-3 ATS away from home. They’ve succeeded most recently with a strong rushing attack led by a resurgent LaDanian Tomlinson and competent quarterback play from Mark Sanchez. The Jets’ defense is down somewhat from last year, but they’ve gotten the job done.

Unfortunately for New York, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense has rounded into championship level form. They may not be the legendary ‘Steel Curtain’ of the 1970’s, but Pittsburgh has the best linebackers in the league who anchored the best scoring defense in the league. The Steelers sacked opposing quarterbacks 48 times and had a +14 turnover ratio. Their rush defense was even better, allowing a league low 62.8 rushing yards per game. They aren’t quite as good in the secondary, but caught a break getting this matchup as Sanchez won’t be able to exploit it the way Tom Brady could have.

In fact, the dynamics of this matchup are the crux to our handicap—from a tactical standpoint it couldn’t be worse for the Jets. They know they can’t expect to run on the nearly impenetrable Steelers’ rushing attack, which puts all the pressure on 2nd year QB Sanchez to make big plays. He’s done better ‘playing within himself’ but he’s not reached the point where he can be counted on to win games with his arm. He’s thrown 36 interceptions in 35 career games, and has thrown at least 1 INT in 10 of his last 12 games.

We respect the competitive tenacity of the Jets and don’t expect this game to be a blowout. We do expect a veteran Pittsburgh team led by Ben Roethlisberger on offense to do enough to get the win and the cover and advance to the Super Bowl. Lay the points with the Steelers and look for this game to stay Under the total. The current line on the game at Sports Interaction has Pittsburgh installed as a -3′ point home favorite with the total set at 39.

Bet Pittsburgh Steelers -3′ over New York Jets
Bet Pittsburgh/New York Under 39