Steelers Visit Patriots in AFC Championship Showdown

Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts will host the AFC Championship game on Sunday when the Pittsburgh Steelers visit the New England Patriots. The current line has New England favored by 6 points with the over/under point total on 50.5.

Entering this game, Pittsburgh has an overall road record this season of 6-3 straight up and against the spread. New England on the season has an overall home record of 7-2 SU and ATS. In their past 10 games played, Pittsburgh is 9-1 SU and 7-2-1 ATS, while New England is 9-1 SU and 8-2 ATS.

Pittsburgh reached the AFC Championship game with an 18-16 win over Kansas City last Sunday. New England easily disposed of Houston 34-16 to reach the conference championship game.

New England defeated Pittsburgh during Week 7 of the regular season 27-16 on the road at Heinz Field. However, Pittsburgh star quarterback Ben Roethlisberger missed that game due to injury.

The Pittsburgh offense could not score a touchdown against Kansas City last week, but did manage 6 field goals to edge the Chiefs by 2 points. In that game, Pittsburgh used its running game to eat up the clock, while its defense played superb.

Big Ben threw for 224 yards and with one interception. However, Le’Veon Bell the Steelers running back rushed for 170 yards. Against New England in Week 7, Bell rushed for 81 yards.

Offensively, Pittsburgh averages 24.8 points a game, which is No. 11 in the league. Defensively, Pittsburgh is allowing 20.4 points a game, which is No. 10 in the NFL. The Steelers defense gave up just 227 yards to the Chiefs, with just 61 on the ground.

New England is playing in the AFC championship for the sixth straight season. Tom Brady threw for 287 yards, 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions in the win over Houston last week.

Offensively, New England has averaged 27.6 points a game this season, which is No. 3 in the league. On defense, the Patriots are giving up just 15.6 points a game, which was No. 1 in the NFL. Last weekend, the defense limited Houston to 285 total yards and intercepted three passes.

Pittsburgh is 4-11 ATS in its past 15 games versus New England.

New England is 4-1 ATS in its past 5 playoff games at home.

Prediction: New England has Pittsburgh’s number of late, but the Steelers come into this game on an 8-game winning streak. Lean here with the Steelers and the points.