Pittsburgh Steelers
vs.
Buffalo Bills
Week 14
NFL Pick
12/11/16
By Jason Green
12/11/16
The Steelers have won 3 straight Games and they are tied with the Baltimore Ravens atop the AFC North. Their defense has been stellar as of late, as in their 3-Game streak they are only allowing an average of 10 ppg. Ben Roethlisberger has been solid this season and Pittsburgh has a very balanced team that ranks 12th in the league in points per Game and 7th in opponents’ points per Game.
The Bills had their two-Game winning streak snapped in their last Game and they have to treat this Game as a must win. They are at .500 and if they lose this Game and fall under .500 their playoff hopes may be dashed. The Buffalo defense ranks in the middle of the pack, but that unit struggled in the last Game giving up 38 points in a loss to the Oakland Raiders. The Bills rank 1st in the league in rushing yards per Game, but dead last in passing yards per Game.
The Steelers have covered the spread in 7 of their last 8 Games facing the Bills.
In their last Game the Steelers beat the New York Giants, snapping their 6-Game winning streak, 24-14 where they covered the spread as a 6.5-point home favorite.
The Bills lost their last Game 38-24 to the Oakland Raiders where they did not cover as a 3-point road underdog.
The Steelers’ defense had another great Game in their last one facing the Giants where they only GAve up a total of 234 yards. Big Ben passed for 289 yards with 2 TD and 21 INT and he has a solid WR corps led by Antonio Brown, who is among the league leaders in receiving yards. RB Le’Veon Bell was the big man on offense for Pittsburgh rushing for 118 yards and catching 6 passed for 64 yards and a TD.
Bell will get his chances in this Game to exploit a Buffalo run defense that only ranks 26th in the league. Their pass defense ranks 8th in the league.
Buffalo nearly had as many yards as the Raiders in their last Game, but they had 2 turnovers while Oakland had none. Tyrod Taylor passed for 191 yards with 0 TD and 1 INT and he has a banged up WR corps. RB LeSean McCoy ranks 6th in the league in rushing yards and he had 130 in the loss to the Raiders.
This Game sets up well for the Pittsburgh defense, which only ranks 19th in the league in pass defense, but 6th in run defense.
Pittsburgh is 4-1-1 ATS in their last 6 Games after allowing less than 15 points in their previous Game and in their last 22 Games on the road the posted total has gone Under 17 times.
Buffalo is 1-5 ATS in their last 6 Games overall, 2-5 ATS in their last 7 Games following a ATS loss, and in their last 5 Games at home the posted total has gone Over every time.
Bettorsworld Pick – Bills +2