New England Patriots at Pittsburgh Steelers
Sunday, 10/30/11, 4:15 PM EST, TV: CBS
Opening Point Spread: New England -2.5
Current Betting Line: New England -3
Opening Total: 51.5
Current Total: 52.5
Odds Courtesy of Bookmaker
No opposing team in the NFL has won games in Pittsburgh like the New England Patriots have with All-Pro quarterback Tom Brady under center. Brady and the Patriots (5-1) will look to win for the fifth time in six trips to Heinz Field on Sunday when they visit the Steelers (5-2) in a key AFC matchup on Sunday.
New England (-3, O/U 52.5) has won six of seven times overall when Brady has started against Pittsburgh, including a 39-26 rout last year on the road. That game was not as close as the final score would indicate, as the Patriots led 29-10 with 8:32 remaining. Brady threw three touchdown passes to tight end Rob Gronkowski, who played his senior year of high school just outside the Steel City.
Brady threw for 350 yards in the last meeting and did not play in the only game the Steelers have won in the series since 2004. Matt Cassel started for the Pats in a 33-10 home loss to Pittsburgh in 2008, completing just 19 of 39 passes for 169 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions.
The Steelers have won three straight games overall since losing at Houston in Week 4. They are coming off a 32-20 victory at Arizona in which QB Ben Roethlisberger threw for 361 yards and three touchdowns with no picks. Pittsburgh running back Rashard Mendenhall was limited to 32 yards on 13 carries, but the offensive game plan was to pick apart the Cardinals pass defense.
The Patriots have also won three in a row but had a bye last week. They knocked off Dallas and the New York Jets in consecutive games at home after winning 31-19 at Oakland in Week 4. Their 20-16 win over the Cowboys snapped a string of 13 consecutive games with 30 or more points.
This year’s meeting figures to be a high-scoring affair, and the Steelers will be hard-pressed to keep up with the league’s fourth-highest scoring team and most dangerous offense. New England leads the NFL with 474.5 yards per game, with 350.5 coming through the air.
The Patriots are 8-2 against the spread in the last 10 meetings with Pittsburgh, and the OVER has cashed in seven of the past eight games between the teams. However, the Steelers have not seen the total go OVER in back-to-back games this season after closing out last year with four straight OVERs, capped by their 31-25 loss to Green Bay in Super Bowl XLV.
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