Friday, May 25th, 2012
The Pittsburgh Steelers clinging to their playoff hopes will travel to South Beach to take on the Miami Dolphins in an NFL pro football game on Sunday afternoon. Kick off time in Miami is scheduled for 1PM Eastern Time with regional television coverage provided by CBS.
The LVSC NFL odds makers have set the opening point spread in this game and the game was opened as a pick with the over under coming in at 44.
The early money from the NFL betting public has come in on the road team, as the Pittsburgh Steelers are currently a 3-point favorite. The total has seen early movement towards the over, as the over under is coming in at 45 ½.
NFL money line gamblers can make a play on the favored Pittsburgh Steelers at –175 with the home underdog Miami Dolphins at +155 to win this game without the need for getting the points.
The Pittsburgh Steelers sits with a record of 8-7 this season. They are alive for a playoff spot but need a lot of help. The Dolphins at 7-8 this season is alive as well for a playoff spot. The Dolphins must win and hope that Jets, Ravens, Texans and Jaguars all lose.
The Steelers are winners of 2 straight games and they were all very close. They are coming off a big 23-20 victory over the Baltimore Ravens last week to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.
The Steelers have been a pass heavy offense this season as Ben Roethlisberger has passed for 4108 yards on the season. He has hit on 66% of his passes this season with 23 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He has passed for 762 yards with 4 touchdowns and 1 interception over his past two games.
Second year running back Rashard Mendenhall has struggled down the stretch. The ball carrier has rushed 44 times for 117 yards in his past three games, which is less than 3 yards, a carry. Mendenhall could be hitting a wall as he had only 19 carries in his rookie season as he missed most of the 2008 season due to injury.
The Steelers defense has allowed 20 points a game. They have slipped considerably in their pass defense as they allow an average of 216 yards through the air this season. Safety Troy Polamalu has missed his past 6 games with a knee injury. He has practiced this week and is questionable for the game.
Miami is closing out their regular season with back-to-back home games. Last week it was a terrible loss by the Dolphins losing 27-20 to the Houston Texans. The Texans got up early and held on for the victory late. Houston torched the Dolphins secondary for big plays in the passing game with 280 passing yards to Matt Schaub.
First year starter Chad Henne has passed for 60% of his passes this season with 11 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. With the Dolphins falling behind in games it has been Henne throwing the ball 101 times in his past two games with 671 yards two touchdowns but 4 picks.
The Dolphins have had injury issues in their running game as Ronnie Brown was declared out for the year a few weeks back. Now Ricky Williams saw limited action last week with a bad shoulder. The veteran back has practiced this week and is questionable for the Steelers game. Williams has averaged 4.8 yards a carry this season but has not run up to his season average in his past 5 games. Lousaka Polite is the third string running back for the Dolphins and he has only achieved a 3.3 yards a carry average this season.
Defensively the Dolphins allow 24 points per game. They have not played well against good passing teams. The Fins allow 236 yards passing per game. The Dolphins have given up the big play this season, as they are 32nd and last in the NFL allowing 13.5 yards per pass completion against their defense. Not a good sign against the pass happy Steelers offense.
For the Latest NFL Odds Please Visit our NFL Odds Page
NFL Trend: Miami Dolphins are 5-1 to the over in their 6 home games this season
The Wagerline consensus has 59.0% of the NFL bettors on Pittsburgh -3
The Wagerline consensus has 51.4% of the NFL bettors playing over 45 1/2
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