Divisional Play-offs Betting Preview

New York Jets at Pittsburgh Steelers kicks-off this weekends play-off action. After two consecutive gruelling overtime games to reach this stage, the Jets will have their work cut out to continue their postseason run. Last week Chad Pennington silenced a number of his doubters with a strong passing performance in San Diego. However, a similar showing against this Steelers defence is unlikely. When the two teams met in the pre-season, Pennington was picked off three times. For those expecting more interceptions from the Jets quarterback, Paddy Power are offering a market on which team will suffer the first turnover. Interestingly the Irish firm make both teams 5/6. Like in the regular season, Pittsburgh will look to establish a strong ground game and not ask too much from their rookie quarterback. The Steelers will be boosted this week by a full compliment of receivers, which poses a problem for the Jets secondary. We all know Hines Ward and Plaxico Burress are a handful for any defence, but Randle El began showing towards the end of the regular season he has what is required to be a productive wide receiver in the NFL. As mentioned above, the Jets have been involved in two very tough overtime games of late, and so don't be surprise to see their defence wear down fairly quickly against a bruising running game, and a useful passing attack. To have a chance in this game, the Jets will need for their offence to be far more productive than it was in the December trip to Pittsburgh. That though is a tough ask and the Steelers should eventually win this game with something to spare. Whether the final score is by a margin greater than the handicap of nine points is too tough to call, especially if conditions are conducive to a low scoring game. The late game on Saturday is also a rematch from the regular season with St.Louis travelling to Atlanta. The week 2 meeting should actually be remember fondly by those regularly following the readaBet advice, as the Falcons were taken that week on the handicap market. They duly went onto beat the Rams in convincing fashion. Before looking at the potential bets for this game, it should be noted that Atlanta were the long-term recommendation on the Spreads markets. It was originally advised to buy the Falcons at 25 on the 100 Index ((Winner = 100pts, Runner-up = 70pts, Conference Finalists = 50pts, Divisional Play-Offs = 33pts). A profit has already been locked in, but a win against the Rams would put us in position to close out for a very handsome profit. Returning to the betting possibilities for the game, and with two exciting offences playing in a dome on a fast track, and there is a real temptation to back the total points to be over 48.The Rams defence is certainly not up too much, as it has shown time and again throughout the regular season. Stopping the run has been a major problem, and it is unlikely to suddenly improve against the Dunn, Vick, Ducket combination. It is on offence where the Rams have made major strides in recent weeks, and if Marc Bulger is afforded sufficient protection, he should be able to pick apart a suspect Atlanta secondary.