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January, 08 2012 4:30pm EST
ATS: Denver Broncos +9 (-120)
WIN for +4.17 unit(s)

Pittsburgh Steelers at Denver Broncos

I understand that the playoffs are different than the regular season as experience plays a big part in that. In this case Pittsburgh has it while Denver does not. But this point spread is out of control. Very rarely will you see a team favored on the road by this much in the playoffs and in the Wildcard round, a road team has been favored by more than five points only once. That happened to come last year when the Seahawks defeated the Saints last season as 9.5-point home underdogs.

This spread is pretty similar to that and the Steelers are nowhere near as good as the Saints were last season as the injuries and the age have finally taken their toll. Pittsburgh is in this position because Baltimore won last week, thus winning the tiebreaker for a first round bye. Pittsburgh is actually in worse shape this week because of additional injuries but yet it is favored by more points over the Broncos than it was against Cleveland last week which was four games worse than Denver.

The Broncos come in riding a three-game losing streak so there is not a lot of momentum on their side but playing at home is a big edge. They were at home last week so there is no travel while the Steelers are travelling for the second straight week. Denver was only 3-5 at home this season but three of those losses came by five points or fewer and while the Steelers were 5-3 on the road, they were outscored by an average of nearly three points per game.

It doesn't take a psychic to know that Denver will try and run the ball on offense as it has done pretty successfully over the second half of the season. Pittsburgh allowed fewer than 100 ypg this season but did give up an average of 4.0 ypc but which is still good but that is exactly one ypc more than it allowed last season. The Steelers have regressed as they have allowed 100 yards or more in four of their last seven games after doing so just three times in their first nine. Denver has gone over 150 yards in eight of its last 11 games.

Pittsburgh is extremely banged up on offense with Ben Roethlisberger nursing a bad ankle and running back Rashard Mendenhall lost for the season with a knee injury. The offense has been inconsistent all season so these injuries are certainly not helping. The Steelers have been horrible in this role as they are 2-11 ATS in their last 13 games as road favorites 7.5 to 14 points while Denver is 15-4 ATS in its last 19 home games against teams allowing 5.7 ypa through the air. 10* (108) Denver Broncos

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