PREMIUM
Rogers' 10* Wild Card Top Totals Ticket >> 4-0 Last 4 Weeks!
(NFL) Miami vs. Pittsburgh,
Total: 45.50 | -110.00 Under
Result: Loss
Total: 45.50 | -110.00 Under
Result: Loss
The set-up: The 10-6 Miami Dolphins lost starting QB Ryan Tannehill to a left knee injury in a Week 14 game with the Cardinals. The Dolphins selected Tannehill in the first round of the 2012 draft and he had started the first 77 games of his career. However, veteran Matt Moore went 3-of-5 for 47 yards and directed the game-winning FG drive to beat the Cards and then led Miami to wins the next two weeks at the Jets and Bills, each time leading Miami to 34 points! The Dolphins hadn't made the playoffs since winning the AFC East back in 2008 and this marks just the team's second postseason appearance since 2001. Pittsburgh suffered a four-game losing streak during a five-week span (Weeks 6-10) but ended the regular season on a seven-game winning streak to win the AFC North at 11-5. So what else is new, as the Steelers are in the postseason for the seventh time in Mike Tomlin's 10 years as head coach (two Super Bowl appearances with one win).
Miami: Matt Moore had attempted just 35 passes since the start of the 2012 season when he stepped in to replace Tannehill but in his relief appearance against the Cards plus in starts against the Jets, Bills and Pats, he's completed 63.2% with eight TDs, three INTs and earned a QB rating of 105.6. Tannehill's sprained left knee is healing faster than expected and Miami's first-year head coach Adam Gase has declined to rule him out but Gase did indicate that Matt Moore is the likely starter. "Matt is preparing for the game, he's the starter," Gase said. "Unless something changes drastically here in the next two days or three days, he's going into this thing. He's the starter." The Dolphins beat the Steelers 30-15 back in Week, a game in which Big Ben played poorly in (19 of 34 for 189 yards with one TD and two INTs) and left near the end with an injury. The star of that game was RB Ajayi, who ran for 204 yards, his first of three 200-yard outings by the second-year back. He's got 1,272 yards on the season (44.9 YPC and eight TDs) but about half of his rushing yards have come in those three, 200-yard games. Pittsburgh's Mike Tomlin is taking him seriously, saying "We are not going to pretend like Jay Ajayi's 200-yard day was a lightning strike. No, it was very real. I don't think it's appropriate to take that approach. He ran for 200 yards twice against the Buffalo Bills this year." Miami's offense was mediocre this year (22.7 PPG ranked 17th) and its defense shaky, allowing 382.6 YPG overall (29th), including 140.4 YPG on the ground, which ranks 30th.
Pittsburgh: The Steelers' season turned when the team's coaches decided to make RB Le'Veon Bell a main focus of the offense. He ran a season-low 10 times against Miami in Week 6 but in leading Pittsburgh to six straight wins, which clinched the AFC North from Weeks 11-16 (he sat out Pittsburgh's Week 17 win), he ran for an average of 139.2 YPG on the ground plus added 42.6 YPG receiving. That's 181.8 YPG from scrimmage! He recorded at least 20 carries in each of his last six games before sitting out Week 17 and was named the AFC Offensive Player of the Month for December/January. Yes, Bell has been the offensive spark but there is nothing wrong with Big Ben, who threw for 3,819 yards (in 14 games) with 29 TDs and just 13 INTs or WR Antonio Brown, who caught 106 passes with 12 TDs! Pittsburgh's defense did not have an overall dominant season but from Weeks 11-16, when it clinched the team's division title, the Steelers led the league with 21 sacks, while allowing just 16.2 PPG.
The pick: Expect Pittsburgh to remember its 30-15 Week 6 loss at Miami and look closer at Miami's 10-6 record in 2016. The Dolphins have been out-scored by 17 points on the season (note: Pittsburgh has a plus 72 scoring differential). Miami needed OT to beat the 1-15 Browns at at home and needed a late goal-line stand at home to hold off the 2-14 Niners. Miami's defense is banged up and got blasted 38-6 by the Ravens, 38-6, allowed 589 yards to Buffalo two weeks ago and almost 400 yards this past Sunday to the Patriots in a 35-14 home loss. The QB matchup of Matt Moore (no postseason experience) or a less than 100% Tannehill (also with no playoff experience) up against Big Ben, who has led the Steelers to three Super Bowls (two wins) and owns 11 playoff wins is an obvious mismatch but this pointspread is really high. Moore's been able to put points on teh board with this Miami offense but the Dolphins' D doesn't figure to slow Bell and Big Ben. The Over is a 10* play.
Miami: Matt Moore had attempted just 35 passes since the start of the 2012 season when he stepped in to replace Tannehill but in his relief appearance against the Cards plus in starts against the Jets, Bills and Pats, he's completed 63.2% with eight TDs, three INTs and earned a QB rating of 105.6. Tannehill's sprained left knee is healing faster than expected and Miami's first-year head coach Adam Gase has declined to rule him out but Gase did indicate that Matt Moore is the likely starter. "Matt is preparing for the game, he's the starter," Gase said. "Unless something changes drastically here in the next two days or three days, he's going into this thing. He's the starter." The Dolphins beat the Steelers 30-15 back in Week, a game in which Big Ben played poorly in (19 of 34 for 189 yards with one TD and two INTs) and left near the end with an injury. The star of that game was RB Ajayi, who ran for 204 yards, his first of three 200-yard outings by the second-year back. He's got 1,272 yards on the season (44.9 YPC and eight TDs) but about half of his rushing yards have come in those three, 200-yard games. Pittsburgh's Mike Tomlin is taking him seriously, saying "We are not going to pretend like Jay Ajayi's 200-yard day was a lightning strike. No, it was very real. I don't think it's appropriate to take that approach. He ran for 200 yards twice against the Buffalo Bills this year." Miami's offense was mediocre this year (22.7 PPG ranked 17th) and its defense shaky, allowing 382.6 YPG overall (29th), including 140.4 YPG on the ground, which ranks 30th.
Pittsburgh: The Steelers' season turned when the team's coaches decided to make RB Le'Veon Bell a main focus of the offense. He ran a season-low 10 times against Miami in Week 6 but in leading Pittsburgh to six straight wins, which clinched the AFC North from Weeks 11-16 (he sat out Pittsburgh's Week 17 win), he ran for an average of 139.2 YPG on the ground plus added 42.6 YPG receiving. That's 181.8 YPG from scrimmage! He recorded at least 20 carries in each of his last six games before sitting out Week 17 and was named the AFC Offensive Player of the Month for December/January. Yes, Bell has been the offensive spark but there is nothing wrong with Big Ben, who threw for 3,819 yards (in 14 games) with 29 TDs and just 13 INTs or WR Antonio Brown, who caught 106 passes with 12 TDs! Pittsburgh's defense did not have an overall dominant season but from Weeks 11-16, when it clinched the team's division title, the Steelers led the league with 21 sacks, while allowing just 16.2 PPG.
The pick: Expect Pittsburgh to remember its 30-15 Week 6 loss at Miami and look closer at Miami's 10-6 record in 2016. The Dolphins have been out-scored by 17 points on the season (note: Pittsburgh has a plus 72 scoring differential). Miami needed OT to beat the 1-15 Browns at at home and needed a late goal-line stand at home to hold off the 2-14 Niners. Miami's defense is banged up and got blasted 38-6 by the Ravens, 38-6, allowed 589 yards to Buffalo two weeks ago and almost 400 yards this past Sunday to the Patriots in a 35-14 home loss. The QB matchup of Matt Moore (no postseason experience) or a less than 100% Tannehill (also with no playoff experience) up against Big Ben, who has led the Steelers to three Super Bowls (two wins) and owns 11 playoff wins is an obvious mismatch but this pointspread is really high. Moore's been able to put points on teh board with this Miami offense but the Dolphins' D doesn't figure to slow Bell and Big Ben. The Over is a 10* play.
