Tuesday, February 7th, 2012
The Atlanta Falcons will travel north to face the Pittsburgh Steelers in an NFL pro football game on Sunday afternoon.
Kick off time from Heinz Field in Pittsburgh is scheduled for 1PM Eastern Time with national television coverage provided by FOX TV.
The point spread opened up at a pick with the over under lined at 41.
The early money from the NFL betting public has been road team money as the Atlanta Falcons are currently lined as a 2 point favorite. The total saw movement under to a currently over under of 37 ½.
Money line gamblers on the side of the favored Atlanta Falcons will lay -135 odds with the home underdog Pittsburgh Steelers bringing back +115 to pull off the upset victory without the need for taking the points.
The Falcons will hope for a healthy season for starting quarterback Matt Ryan who was hampered by the effects of a turf toe for much of the 2009 season. It was a season that saw the Falcons finish at 9-7 and failed to make the playoffs.
Matt Ryan during his sophomore season completed 58.3% of his passes for 2916 yards 22 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. The Falcons were 14th in passing offense last season with 223 yards passing per game.
Michael Turner was also battling the injury bug in 2009 as he suffered a high ankle sprain last season. He was still able to produce a 4.9 yards per carry average on 178 carries with 10 touchdowns. The 7 year veteran missed 5 games due to injury last season.
Jason Snelling backs up Turner and the 27 year old running back produced 613 yards on 142 carries with 4 touchdowns.
Matt Ryan has solid pass receivers behind Roddy White and Michael Jenkins. Veteran Tony Gonzalez returns as the teams tight end following a 2009 where he caught 83 passes for 867 yards and 6 touchdowns. White is a big play weapon for Ryan as he produced 13.6 yards per catch average on 85 catches.
The Falcons will need to be better defensively. The team struggled against the pass allowing 241 yards through the air ranking 28th in the league. The Falcons will need to bring more pressure on the quarterback following a 2009 where they produced just 28 sacks ranking 26th in the league.
The Pittsburgh Steelers will be without starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger who will be serving the 1st of a four game NFL commissioner imposed suspension from the league. The Steelers acquired Byron Leftwich to compete for the backup position but the veteran sprained his knee. So leading the Steelers under center in week 1 will be third year pro Dennis Dixon.
Dixon got a spot start against the Baltimore Ravens last year on the road and completed 12 of 26 for 145 yards 1 touchdown and 1 costly pick in overtime that cost the Steelers the game. Dixon is a run threat who produced 27 yards on 3 carries with a touchdown.
The Steelers lost running back Willie Parker to free agency and it will be third year pro Rashard Mendenhall as the starter. Mendenhall produced 1108 yards on 242 carries for a respectable 4.6 yards per carry average and 7 touchdowns last season. Mewelde Moore is his backup who produced only 3.4 yards a carry on 35 rushes last season.
Santonio Holmes is now a Jet and the wide out led the Steelers with 1248 yards receiving in 2009. The veteran Hines Ward and the youngster Mike Wallace line up out wide for the Steelers. Wallace is a big play threat who posted an outstanding 19.4 yards per reception last season won 39 catches and 6 touchdowns.
The Steelers are hoping that safety Troy Polamalu can stay healthy and on the field this season. His absence greatly impacts the face of the Steelers defense. The Steelers had another good season stopping the run in 2009 as they ranked 3rd in the league allowing just nearly 90 yards a game. But their secondary gave up too many big plays and leads late in ball games. The Steelers allowed 215 yards passing per game ranking 16th in the league.
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NFL Trend: Atlanta Falcons are 4-0 ATS in their past 4 meetings.
Tags: Atlanta falcons, betting, fox tv, nfl, Odds, pick, Pittsburgh steelers, preview, pro football, september 12th 2010, sunday
