Pittsburgh Steelers vs. New England Patriots Preview
Where: Gillette Stadium, Foxborough
When: Sunday, January 22, 2017, 6:40 PM ET
Line: Pittsburgh Steelers vs. New England Patriots – view all NFL lines
TV Broadcast: CBS
NFL News and Previews
Betting on the Pittsburgh Steelers
For all the talk about the Steelers’ Big Three heading into the divisional round match against Kansas City, it was kicker Chris Boswell, who came up with the biggest performance. The kicker scored all of Pittsburgh’s points, nailing all six field goal attempts, in an 18-16 victory at Arrowhead Stadium.
The Steelers won’t of course plan their next game around Boswell, so all eyes remain on the trio of Ben Roethlisberger, Le’Veon Bell, and Antonio Brown in Foxborough this coming Sunday.
Big Ben passed for 224 yards (20/31) with zero touchdowns and an interception against Kansas City. Bell, meanwhile, had 170 rushing yards on 30 carries, helping set up many of Boswell’s kicks, with Brown catching six catches for 180 yards.
The Steelers’ offense should run better this Sunday than in the earlier loss to New England, considering Roethlisberger wasn’t around because of injury in that game and Pittsburgh instead relying on Landry Jones under center. Brown appeared to not mind having Jones at quarterback though, finishing with 106 receiving yards on seven catches.
The Steelers’ defense did well against the Chiefs, holding Alex Smith to only 166 passing yards and Kansas City’s backfield to only 61 rushing yards.
Pittsburgh is 5-0 SU and ATS in its last six road games.
Betting on the New England Patriots
The Patriots were supposed to beat Houston by 100 points and though they failed to do that, they nevertheless kicked the Texans out of the playoffs with a 34-16 win in the divisional round on Saturday. The winning margin was also enough for the Pats to clear their spread of 16.5 points as favorites.
New England is now 6-0 ATS in its last six outings.
Tom Brady wasn’t peak Brady against the Texans, passing for 287 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions on 18 of 38 completions.
Enter Dion Lewis, who played like he’s promised the entire land of Foxborough if New England won against Houston, as he scored a receiving, a rushing, and a kickoff return touchdown in the game. Lewis along with LeGarrette Blount will look to give Brady enough support out of the backfield facing Pittsburgh’s run defense that ranked 13th back in regular season.
Blount was nearly unstoppable back in Week 7 in a 27-16 road win over Pittsburgh, when he rushed for 127 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries. Brady, meanwhile, passed for 222 yards and two TD’s with no interceptions on 19 of 26 completions.
The Pats’ offensive line needs to step up after letting Brady take some real punishment at the hand of the Texans. Brady was hit lots of times and was sacked twice by Houston. He wasn’t touched, though, in the previous meeting with Pittsburgh.
Writer’s Prediction
New England wins, 31-24.
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