Headline: Motivated 49ers Host Arizona in Week 17 – a Beat Down at the Bay?
The San Francisco 49ers had hoped to have the NFC West locked up by now but a loss in Week 16 has this team with a little work to do ahead of the impending playoffs. The good news for San Francisco, they host one of the most inept offenses the NFL has seen in years. The bad news – injuries on both sides of the ball means that there will be some kinks that need to be worked out this Sunday.
One week to go in the 2012 Regular Season and what a year it has been! There have been some great surprises, some colossal letdowns and some incredible storylines all season – Week 16 was no different! The cream is definitely rising to the top as shown in this week’s Rankings.
Well, it all comes down to this for a resurgent Broncos team. This game is not exactly short in the story line department either. The most notable one has to be the fact that new Kansas City quarterback, Kyle Orton has the chance to keep the team that cut him earlier this year, out of the playoffs.
Well, the Raiders are not in complete control of their destiny here, but a home win against the surging Chargers will go a long way in securing them a playoff spot for the first time since 2002.
The Chicago Bears have lost their last 5 games to fall out of the playoff race and under .500. Truth be told I never really saw them as a legit contender and if they finish at .500 that seems about right, even though their path to getting there was different than expected.
It has been a season to forget for the Cleveland Browns. The Browns have lost eight of their last nine games. Pittsburgh still has a shot at home field advantage in the playoffs, but they must win this game.
Kyle Hunter
The Steelers have won 9 of the last 10 meetings between these two rivals.
Pittsburgh Steelers (11-4) vs. Cleveland Browns (4-11) Time/Date: 4:15 PM EST, January 1, 2012 Venue: Cleveland Browns Stadium Broadcast: CBS Steelers vs. Browns Gambling Odds from 5Dimes Spread: Steelers -7 Moneyline: Off Over/Under: 36
The Browns would love nothing more than to end the season by hurting their hated rivals playoff positioning. Don’t expect Cleveland to roll over in this one.
Ben Roethlisberger didn’t play in last week’s game against the Rams, but he is expected to return for this regular season finale. Big Ben has thrown 21 touchdowns and 14 interceptions so far this season. He will certainly be a bit gimpy due to his sprained ankle, but he has shown the ability to fight through injury plenty of times before. Rashard Mendenhall had one of his best games of the year last week against St. Louis. Mendenhall averaged 6.4 yards per carry last week. Mike Wallace is one of the best deep threats in the NFL. Pittsburgh has four players with at least 41 receptions this year. The Steelers average 20.8 points per game.
Pittsburgh’s defense continues to be the main reason this team is such a dominant force. The front seven is the best in the league. James Harrison, Lamarr Woodley, James Farrior, and Lawrence Timmons are beasts in the 3-4 defense of Dick LeBeau. Woodley is listed as doubtful for this one, but Jason Worilds is a very good replacement. The secondary is tremendous, and it all starts with free safety Troy Polamalu. This defense has no real weakness. Pittsburgh allows just 14.5 points per contest. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Cleveland’s offense has been lacking explosiveness all season long. Colt McCoy has improved in his second year as the starter, but he is listed as questionable for this one due to a concussion suffered last time these teams met. Peyton Hillis hasn’t had a good season overall, but his last two games have been much better. Hillis ran for 99 yards two weeks ago and 112 last week against the tough Ravens defense. The Browns need a big game from Hillis to have any chance in this game. Greg Little has been the most consistent receiver for this team, but they are lacking a big play maker on the outside. Cleveland is averaging a miserable 13.9 points per game.
The Browns defense has actually been very good this year. Cleveland has had a lot of close games because this unit has held the opposition down even when the Browns offense is doing almost nothing. The primary reason for the big improvement on defense is the talented secondary. Joe Haden has an amazing 19 pass deflections this year. Haden is the young leader of this talented secondary. Cleveland has struggled against power running teams. Overall, the Browns are giving up just 19.6 points per game this year.
The Browns will fight hard in this one, but they are overmatched. Pittsburgh has plenty of incentive to be playing hard all the way in this one. Expect Pittsburgh to cover here.
The Colts (2-13) have won 2 straight games, but many fans in Indy may bee rooting for the Jaguars in this game. The Colts are tied with the Rams for the worst record in the league and if the Rams lose to the 49ers and the Colt beat the Jags than St. Louis would end up with the first pick in the draft.
The Saints (12-3) have already wrapped up the NFC South and the 3rd seed in the playoffs, but if they win this game and San Francisco loses to St. Louis New Orleans will have the 2nd seed and a bye in the first round in the post season.
Two teams – too little too late! The Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals will both be playing to finish the season .500 – something that neither team could have imagined two months ago.
The formula is quite simple for the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday – beat the St. Louis Rams and guarantee themselves a first round bye in the playoffs. Standing in their way is the wet paper bag known as the Rams!
The Tennessee Titans, with an ever-so-slim Playoff possibility meet the struggling but already safe Houston Texans on Sunday to close out their Regular season.
NFL Betting Previews – Buffalo Bills vs New England Patriots
The Buffalo Bills and the New England Patriots both close-out their regular season this Sunday afternoon at Gillette Stadium in a New Year’s Day battle between two AFC East rivals.
Each week during the heart of the NFL season, and once or twice during the NFL Preseason, we’ll gather the troops around the roundtable and hash out the NFL Power rankings. We check out the stats, looks at the records, and, most importantly, we take a close, close look at the heart of each team.
