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PITTSBURGH STEELERS -6.5 @ CLEVELAND BROWNS
Pittsburgh (9-5, 5-2 away) at Cleveland (5-9, 3-3 home) @ 1:00 PM. EST *CBS
The Pittsburgh Steelers' late-season push for a playoff berth continues this Saturday, as they visit the Cleveland Browns.
The Steelers are currently locked into a battle for one of the AFC's two wild card slots. Jacksonville leads the race with a 10-4 mark, while Pittsburgh and San Diego are one game behind. The Steelers own the tiebreaker with the Chargers after beating them earlier in the season.
Pittsburgh is coming off a 18-3 victory in Minnesota. Jeff Reed kicked three field goals and Ben Roethlisberger passed for 149 yards, also scoring on a three-yard touchdown to lift the Steelers.
The Browns will try to spoil Pittsburgh's postseason chances when they take to their home field. Cleveland halted a three-game losing streak last Sunday with a 9-7 victory in Oakland.
SERIES HISTORY
The Browns lead the regular season series, which dates back to 1950, by a 55-50 count. Pittsburgh has won nine of its last 10 regular season games against Cleveland, however, including a 34-21 home victory in Week 10. The Browns' only win over Pittsburgh since 2000 was a 33-13 win at Heinz Field in 2003. The Steelers have won four straight games in Cleveland Browns Stadium since the Browns last defeated Pittsburgh there during the 2000 season.
The clubs have also met twice in the postseason, with Pittsburgh winning both times. Bill Cowher's club picked up a 29-9 victory in a 1994 AFC Divisional Playoff, and won a 36-33 thriller in a 2002 AFC First-Round Playoff.
Cowher is 18-5 in his head coaching career against the Browns, for whom he played from 1980 through 1983 and served as an assistant from 1985 through 1988. Cleveland's Romeo Crennel is 0-1 versus both Cowher and the Steelers as a head coach.
OVERALL ANALYSIS
With a possible playoff spot still hanging in the balance, the Steelers will be prepared to do whatever it takes to win the final two games of the season. That means placing faith in their powerful running attack, which is prepared to shred a Cleveland defense that struggles in slowing down opposing rushers. Roethlisberger won't need to do much more than hand the ball off, as Pittsburgh rolls to the easy win.
SAN DIEGO CHARGERS @ KANSAS CITY CHIEFS +1
San Diego (9-5, 5-2 away) at Kansas (8-6, 5-1 home) @ 1:00 PM. EST *CBS
Whenever longtime AFC West rivals San Diego and Kansas City face off, a spirited battle can always be expected. When there are serious playoff stakes attached, as will be the case when the two play at Arrowhead Stadium on Saturday, the tension can be expected to rise to a fever pitch.
The Chargers and Chiefs come into their Week 16 matchup essentially needing to win to stay alive in the postseason hunt. Both San Diego and Kansas City trail Jacksonville (10-4) and Pittsburgh (9-5) in the Wild Card race, and both will be seeking to win and benefit from losses by the Jaguars and/or Steelers over the final two weeks. San Diego also has an outside chance at winning the AFC West title, but would need to win its final two contests while Denver loses its final two. The Chargers host Denver in Week 17.
Kansas City has suffered damage to its playoff aspirations by losing back-to- back roads contests to the Cowboys (31-28) and Giants (27-17), but have the odds in their favor as they return to Arrowhead. The Chiefs have won 17 consecutive December home games on their home field, last suffering such a loss during the 1996 campaign.
SERIES HISTORY
Kansas City holds a 47-42-1 lead in a series with San Diego that dates back to 1960, when the Chiefs franchise was known as the Dallas Texans and the Chargers resided in Los Angeles. San Diego has won three straight in the series, sweeping a home-and-home last year and taking down the Chiefs at Qualcomm Stadium (28-20) in Week 8. Kansas City's last wins over San Diego came in 2003, when it swept the home-and-home.
In addition to their regular season history, the teams have met once in the postseason, with the Chargers scoring a 17-0 home victory in a 1992 AFC First- Round Playoff.
San Diego head coach Marty Schottenheimer is 6-4 against the team that he coached from 1989 through 1998, including 4-4 since leaving the franchise. Kansas City's Dick Vermeil is 5-5 against the Chargers all-time, including 5-4 since taking the helm of Kansas City in 2001, and is 4-5 in his career against Schottenheimer.
OVERALL ANALYSIS
The Chargers advanced up NFL power polls after last week's win in Indianapolis, and the fact that San Diego was victorious in Kansas City this past January proves that they can win in Arrowhead in the winter. Still, it is easy to be suspicious of a Chargers team capable of not showing up at home against the Dolphins, and it is easy to expect wins from a club as dominant as Kansas City has been at home in their history. The San Diego "D" may hold Johnson in check, but Green, Gonzales, and Kennison stand to have some big moments against the still-suspect Charger secondary. On the other side of the football, the Chargers will have their moments as well, but look for some costly San Diego turnovers to turn the tide in favor of the home team.
NEW YORK GIANTS @ WASHINGTON REDSKINS >>>> OVER 37.5
NY Giants (10-4, 3-3 away) at Washington (8-6, 5-2 home) @ 1:00 PM. EST
So the Giants and the Redskins are playing a game in December for late-season supremacy in the NFC East Division and a chance to clinch a playoff berth, huh?
Apparently all we need now is a scruffy Bruce Springsteen croaking out songs in an American flag headband, and the journey back to the mid-1980s will be complete.
Somehow, it seems, the latest sensation to emerge from somewhere in the swamps of Jersey - that's the football team, not the 56-year-old rocker-turned- political shill-turned-VH1 Classic staple - would be at home in both eras.
And, based on their performance in last week's 27-17 downing of the playing- for-their-postseason lives Kansas City Chiefs, the Giants appear to be legitimately among the NFL's elite for the first time since Bill Parcells roamed the sidelines and "Dancing in the Dark" monopolized the airwaves.
True, they did reach the Super Bowl after a surprising playoff run a few years back under Jim Fassel, but with the combination of Tiki Barber (220 yards rushing vs. the Chiefs) on offense and a swarming defense that has wreaked havoc on quarterbacks up and down the 2005 schedule..."This Time it's for Real."
Across the field will be Joe Gibbs and the Redskins, who've evoked memories of their own "Glory Days" with a win streak that stretched to three games last week with a 35-7 hammering of Parcells and the Cowboys that upped Washington's record to 8-6 and prompted their inclusion in the morass of playoff scenarios.
A win for the Giants this week will give them the East championship and keep them in the running for one of the conference's two first-round byes, which are at the moment in the hands of Seattle and Chicago. Washington can clinch a playoff spot with a victory and a load of help from other games involving fellow Wild Card pursuers Tampa Bay, Atlanta, Minnesota and Dallas.
A Redskins loss could leave them, ahem...in the "Darkness on the Edge of Town."
Atl +3
No one think ATL has a chance today... this game is the biggest public fade today (everyones on TB at 80%). Plus this line hasn't budged off 3 all week. Someone is keeping it there! Gimme Atl and all those points and I'll take my chances!
Pittsburgh (9-5, 5-2 away) at Cleveland (5-9, 3-3 home) @ 1:00 PM. EST *CBS
The Pittsburgh Steelers' late-season push for a playoff berth continues this Saturday, as they visit the Cleveland Browns.
The Steelers are currently locked into a battle for one of the AFC's two wild card slots. Jacksonville leads the race with a 10-4 mark, while Pittsburgh and San Diego are one game behind. The Steelers own the tiebreaker with the Chargers after beating them earlier in the season.
Pittsburgh is coming off a 18-3 victory in Minnesota. Jeff Reed kicked three field goals and Ben Roethlisberger passed for 149 yards, also scoring on a three-yard touchdown to lift the Steelers.
The Browns will try to spoil Pittsburgh's postseason chances when they take to their home field. Cleveland halted a three-game losing streak last Sunday with a 9-7 victory in Oakland.
SERIES HISTORY
The Browns lead the regular season series, which dates back to 1950, by a 55-50 count. Pittsburgh has won nine of its last 10 regular season games against Cleveland, however, including a 34-21 home victory in Week 10. The Browns' only win over Pittsburgh since 2000 was a 33-13 win at Heinz Field in 2003. The Steelers have won four straight games in Cleveland Browns Stadium since the Browns last defeated Pittsburgh there during the 2000 season.
The clubs have also met twice in the postseason, with Pittsburgh winning both times. Bill Cowher's club picked up a 29-9 victory in a 1994 AFC Divisional Playoff, and won a 36-33 thriller in a 2002 AFC First-Round Playoff.
Cowher is 18-5 in his head coaching career against the Browns, for whom he played from 1980 through 1983 and served as an assistant from 1985 through 1988. Cleveland's Romeo Crennel is 0-1 versus both Cowher and the Steelers as a head coach.
OVERALL ANALYSIS
With a possible playoff spot still hanging in the balance, the Steelers will be prepared to do whatever it takes to win the final two games of the season. That means placing faith in their powerful running attack, which is prepared to shred a Cleveland defense that struggles in slowing down opposing rushers. Roethlisberger won't need to do much more than hand the ball off, as Pittsburgh rolls to the easy win.
SAN DIEGO CHARGERS @ KANSAS CITY CHIEFS +1
San Diego (9-5, 5-2 away) at Kansas (8-6, 5-1 home) @ 1:00 PM. EST *CBS
Whenever longtime AFC West rivals San Diego and Kansas City face off, a spirited battle can always be expected. When there are serious playoff stakes attached, as will be the case when the two play at Arrowhead Stadium on Saturday, the tension can be expected to rise to a fever pitch.
The Chargers and Chiefs come into their Week 16 matchup essentially needing to win to stay alive in the postseason hunt. Both San Diego and Kansas City trail Jacksonville (10-4) and Pittsburgh (9-5) in the Wild Card race, and both will be seeking to win and benefit from losses by the Jaguars and/or Steelers over the final two weeks. San Diego also has an outside chance at winning the AFC West title, but would need to win its final two contests while Denver loses its final two. The Chargers host Denver in Week 17.
Kansas City has suffered damage to its playoff aspirations by losing back-to- back roads contests to the Cowboys (31-28) and Giants (27-17), but have the odds in their favor as they return to Arrowhead. The Chiefs have won 17 consecutive December home games on their home field, last suffering such a loss during the 1996 campaign.
SERIES HISTORY
Kansas City holds a 47-42-1 lead in a series with San Diego that dates back to 1960, when the Chiefs franchise was known as the Dallas Texans and the Chargers resided in Los Angeles. San Diego has won three straight in the series, sweeping a home-and-home last year and taking down the Chiefs at Qualcomm Stadium (28-20) in Week 8. Kansas City's last wins over San Diego came in 2003, when it swept the home-and-home.
In addition to their regular season history, the teams have met once in the postseason, with the Chargers scoring a 17-0 home victory in a 1992 AFC First- Round Playoff.
San Diego head coach Marty Schottenheimer is 6-4 against the team that he coached from 1989 through 1998, including 4-4 since leaving the franchise. Kansas City's Dick Vermeil is 5-5 against the Chargers all-time, including 5-4 since taking the helm of Kansas City in 2001, and is 4-5 in his career against Schottenheimer.
OVERALL ANALYSIS
The Chargers advanced up NFL power polls after last week's win in Indianapolis, and the fact that San Diego was victorious in Kansas City this past January proves that they can win in Arrowhead in the winter. Still, it is easy to be suspicious of a Chargers team capable of not showing up at home against the Dolphins, and it is easy to expect wins from a club as dominant as Kansas City has been at home in their history. The San Diego "D" may hold Johnson in check, but Green, Gonzales, and Kennison stand to have some big moments against the still-suspect Charger secondary. On the other side of the football, the Chargers will have their moments as well, but look for some costly San Diego turnovers to turn the tide in favor of the home team.
NEW YORK GIANTS @ WASHINGTON REDSKINS >>>> OVER 37.5
NY Giants (10-4, 3-3 away) at Washington (8-6, 5-2 home) @ 1:00 PM. EST
So the Giants and the Redskins are playing a game in December for late-season supremacy in the NFC East Division and a chance to clinch a playoff berth, huh?
Apparently all we need now is a scruffy Bruce Springsteen croaking out songs in an American flag headband, and the journey back to the mid-1980s will be complete.
Somehow, it seems, the latest sensation to emerge from somewhere in the swamps of Jersey - that's the football team, not the 56-year-old rocker-turned- political shill-turned-VH1 Classic staple - would be at home in both eras.
And, based on their performance in last week's 27-17 downing of the playing- for-their-postseason lives Kansas City Chiefs, the Giants appear to be legitimately among the NFL's elite for the first time since Bill Parcells roamed the sidelines and "Dancing in the Dark" monopolized the airwaves.
True, they did reach the Super Bowl after a surprising playoff run a few years back under Jim Fassel, but with the combination of Tiki Barber (220 yards rushing vs. the Chiefs) on offense and a swarming defense that has wreaked havoc on quarterbacks up and down the 2005 schedule..."This Time it's for Real."
Across the field will be Joe Gibbs and the Redskins, who've evoked memories of their own "Glory Days" with a win streak that stretched to three games last week with a 35-7 hammering of Parcells and the Cowboys that upped Washington's record to 8-6 and prompted their inclusion in the morass of playoff scenarios.
A win for the Giants this week will give them the East championship and keep them in the running for one of the conference's two first-round byes, which are at the moment in the hands of Seattle and Chicago. Washington can clinch a playoff spot with a victory and a load of help from other games involving fellow Wild Card pursuers Tampa Bay, Atlanta, Minnesota and Dallas.
A Redskins loss could leave them, ahem...in the "Darkness on the Edge of Town."
Atl +3
No one think ATL has a chance today... this game is the biggest public fade today (everyones on TB at 80%). Plus this line hasn't budged off 3 all week. Someone is keeping it there! Gimme Atl and all those points and I'll take my chances!