New York Giants take on Atlanta Falcons in the playoffs and the side from the Big Apple will be expecting their experience to count.
The Atlanta Falcons (13/10 in Match Result) meet the New York Giants (8/13) in their first ever postseason game on Sunday with Tom Coughlin’s men beginning to see parallels between this year and their Super Bowl winning-run of 2007.
New York believes they are playing their best football of an inconsistent season as they bid to carry the momentum of a 31-14 home win over Dallas into the playoffs. Quarterback Eli Manning is crucial to any repeat success after finishing only 67 yards shy of 5,000 yards and setting an NFL record with 15 fourth-quarter touchdown passes (Giants 10/11 in Last Team to Score).
Atlanta will be well aware of the danger on defense but they will present a much more balanced offensive threat to the Giants. The Falcons average 114.6 yards per game on the ground thanks to Michael Turner, who finished the regular season third in the NFL rushing list with 1,340 yards gained (Turner 5/1 First Touchdown Scorer).
Sunday’s AFC Wildcard matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers (21/20 – 9pts in Handicap) and the Denver Broncos (4/5 +9pts in Handicap) could be a dour, defensive struggle with both teams statistically better on that side of the ball.
The defending conference champions are severely depleted on offense with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger nursing a badly sprained left ankle and running back Rashard Mendenhall out with a torn ACL.
The Steelers’ leading rusher went down with the injury in last week’s 13-9 win over Cleveland – leaving third-year running back Isaac Redman (4/1 First Touchdown Scorer) and rookie John Clay as the only healthy ball carriers on the roster. Redman ran for 92 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries against the Browns, but also lost two fumbles.
Roethlisberger reaggravated his injury last week and in the two games he’s played since initially hurting his ankle, the former Superbowl MVP has thrown for 551 yards with no touchdowns and three interceptions for a 62.2 quarterback rating.
Those stats don’t compare well with his previous 13 games under center this season when he threw for 21 TDs ,11 picks, averaging 1.66 more yards per attempt, for a 95.6 passer rating.
No-one in Denver wants to talk about quaterback Tim Tebow’s stats but his leadership skills this season have been crucial to the Broncos making postseason play. The former Florida Gator engineered amazing comebacks during Denver’s six-game winning streak, but has since lost his midas touch as the Broncos have slumped.
Tebow (8/1 First Touchdown Scorer) is coming off a brutal performance in last Sunday’s 7-3 loss to Kansas City, misfiring on 16 of 22 passes and throwing for 60 yards with a pick for a 20.6 QB rating.
Going up against Pittsburgh’s stingy defense, first in total defense (271.8 yards per game), passing defense (171.9) and points allowed (14.2), John Fox and the Broncos’ offensive staff are likely to be even more cautious to prevent Tebow from making more mistakes.
The Steelers, who have allowed a league-low three touchdowns in six games since Week 12, will be welcoming back linebacker LaMarr Woodley, who spent the second half of the season dealing with a strained left hamstring.
But Steelers safety Ryan Clark is out, because of a sickle-cell trait that becomes aggravated when playing at altitude.
Denver’s offensive struggles look set to continue and they may not manage more than 13 points in the match (4/5 Denver under 13pts in Team A total Points).
