NFL Football
2011-09-18 - Seattle Seahawks at Pittsburgh Steelers
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States: NFL Football Week 2
Sunday 18 September 2011 - Kick Off 1pm ET
6pm (British Standard Time)
Preview
The last thing any teams wants to do is to make mistakes in football games, but the pain seems to be much worse when it comes against Divisional rivals, yet both the Pittsburgh Steelers (0-1) and the Seattle Seahawks (0-1) faced that last week and now come into Week 2 with losses already on their record.
Pittsburgh were considered as one of the top choices for teams that could win the SuperBowl this season after coming close to doing that last season. They haven't made many changes to their roster in the offseason, but there was no way anyone could have seen the performance at Baltimore coming.
The Steelers were crushed in every facet of the game, with the Offense making a number of critical mistakes and the Defense struggling to stop anything as they suffered their worst loss in 14 years.
Pittsburgh gave up 7 turnovers and there is no way a team can come back from something like that to win a game of football. The Defense allowed 170 yards on the ground, giving up 15 more yards than they did in their 3 Play Off games from last season combined.
Mike Tomlin was furious on the sidelines as the team kept giving the ball back to Baltimore and he made his point clear when telling the media that the punter was the only player on the team that could have been proud of his performance.
It will be tough for Seattle to come into Heinze Field and take advantage of the Steeler problems after they lost a NFC West game at San Francisco as their Special Teams folded towards the end of the game when it looked like the Seahawks were going to pull the come from behind win.
Michael Robinson will be missing for Seattle and that will restrict their ability to run the ball on Sunday. That means a lot of the Offense will rest on Tavaris Jackson's shoulders and that is not a good sign for Seahawk fans. Jackson will also be likely missing his top target, Sidney Rice, for a 2nd week in a row.
The Defensive unit played well for the Seahawks last week when they held the 49ers to 209 total yards, but the Secondary will have a hard time this week.
Willie Colon is missing for Pittsburgh and will be replaced by Marcus Gilbert.
Ben Roethlisberger is 12-1 against NFC opponents in his career, while Seattle have lost their last 8 road games at AFC opponents.
Head to Head
These two teams last met in 2007 when the Steelers beat the Seahawks 21-0 at Heinze Field.
That was the year after the teams met in SuperBowl 40 where the Steelers won the Vince Lombardi Trophy in controversial circumstances.
The home team is 3-1-1 against the spread in the last 5 meetings between the teams.
Both teams are 0-1 against the spread this season.
Other Interesting Notes
Pittsburgh have won their last 4 games against the spread following a straight up loss.
They are 11-4-1 against the spread in the last 16 games they have played following a straight up loss of 14 points or more.
They are 5-11 against the spread in their last 16 games as the home favourite of 10.5 points or more.
The Seahawks are 16-37-1 against the spread in their last 54 games on the road.
Seattle are 6-21 against the spread in their last 27 games as the road underdog.
They have lost their last 4 games against the spread as the road underdog being given 10.5 points or more.
83% of the wagers made in Vegas are on the Steelers.
Prediction
I do like the Steelers in this spot, even though it is a very big spread they are facing.
The first thing I will say is DO NOT back the spread if it goes over 14 points, else I feel the layers are getting too big an edge.
You have to imagine Pittsburgh are going to come out and play angry in this one. The Defense has been hammered in the media with Warren Sapp calling them 'old, slow and done' and I think they will make a big statement on Sunday.
Ben Roethlisberger should have the opportunity to put up large numbers against the Seattle Secondary that is not the best.
The other factors going against Seattle in my mind is the fact they are a West Coast team that will have to travel to the East Coast to play an early game, a situation that has troubled others in the past.
Add to that the fact they will be playing the second of back to back road games and you have to favour the Steelers to come out and remind the NFL why they are the reigning AFC Champions.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Pittsburgh Steelers 31-6 Seattle Seahawks
FIXED ODDS BETTING TIP :
I'll back the Pittsburgh Steelers -14 Points @ 1.92
