New York at Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh and rookie Ben Roethlisberger have steamrolled through the regular season. They beat Philadelphia and New England in back-to-back games and handed the VERY hot and motivated Buffalo Bills a season-ending loss in week 17, in a game that meant very little to them. They have a tremendous opportunity this year, having locked up home-field advantage. The Steelers are a throwback club. They have done it with a punishing running game and great defense. If you have been a football fan for any length of time, you gotta love the Steelers style of play, regardless of who your favorite team is. They got fewer yards per pop than the Jets and Curtis Martin but they more than made up for it with a committment to running. Pitt ran the ball 63% of the time this season, bruising defenses with Jerome Bettis and Duce Staley. Big Ben was only asked to throw the ball 22 times per game. Similarities exist between this team and the 2000 Baltimore Ravens. But, Ben is no Trent Dilfer. He can help you win a game, as opposed to just helping you avoid losing it. He completed 66% of his passes and he always seems to make a big pass play when his team needs it. He's got one of the best receiving corps in the league, to complement their great running game. He averaged 8.3 yards per pass attempt - better than Tom Brady, Donovan McNabb, Chad Pennington and even Marc Bulger. Pitt scored 23 points per game while holding opponents to under 16. They held opponents to just 81.2 yards per game on the ground. While the Jets offense looked great last weekend, I don't expect that kind of performance this Saturday. In the six games they played this year against great defenses of the caliber of Pitt (New England x2, Buffalo x2, Baltimore and Pittsburgh), the Jets averaged 11.7 points per game. In three of those games, New York scored a touchdown or less. I expect a fired up Pittsburgh team to come out and knock the Jets in the mouth. While the Jets are playing pretty well, I'll lean towards the Steelers. One star pick on Pitt to cover the big number.