The pros at FiveStarPick.com have been crunching stats, trends, key matchups and injury reports to give our members today’s winner in the AFC Championship.  The Pittsburgh Steelers are favored by 4-points over the New York Jets with a total of 38.5.  This line is DEAD WRONG!

The Steelers are no stranger to this game, participating in the AFC Championship for the fourth time since 2004. On the other side, if the Jets win, they will go to the Super Bowl for the first time since 1969 when Broadway Joe helped upset the Colts, 16-7 as 18-point underdogs.

The Jets have had some mojo working knocking out Indianapolis and New England in the first two rounds.  Cromartie’s big kickoff return following the go-ahead field goal by Indianapolis gave the Jets excellent field position, which led to a 32-yard field goal at the gun.

All the talk heading into the Divisional Playoff tilt was coming from the Jets’ side as they looked to avenge a 45-3 slaughter in Foxboro on Monday night in Week 13. New York responded to the challenge by eliminating New England, 28-21 as 9-point underdogs capturing its fourth road playoff win in five tries. Mark Sanchez overcame two horrible efforts his previous two starts at Gillette Stadium with a three-touchdown romp as the Pats allowed their most points since Week 11 against Indianapolis (28).

The Steelers came back to shock the Ravens, 31-24 as 3.5-point favorites for the second time this season. Ben Roethlisberger threw two second-half touchdowns, while Rashard Mendenhall’s two-yard plunge with 90 seconds left capped the comeback and gave Pittsburgh its third straight home playoff win. The game went ‘over’ the total of 37.5, as the two teams combined for just 389 yards.

These teams just played each other a little over a month ago at Heinz Field as the Jets upended Steelers, 22-17 as 3.5-point ‘dogs. Troy Polamalu was out with a sprained ankle suffered the week before against Cincinnati as the Steelers’ defense limited the Jets to 277 yards of offense. Sanchez’s bootleg touchdown run on fourth down helped tie the game at 17-17, followed by a Folk field goal and late safety to put the win away for the Jets.

All three of Pittsburgh’s home losses this season came against playoff teams (Jets, Patriots, and Ravens), while owning a 6-3 Against The Spread mark at home. The Jets continue to cash at a frantic rate on the road, putting together a 7-3 Against The Spread record on the highway, including a 6-2 Against The Spread record as an away underdog. Under Ryan, the Jets have gone 14-7 Against The Spread on the road as opposed to 8-8 Against The Spread at home over the last two seasons.

This game is not an easy game to handicap, but the pros at FiveStarPick.com have broken down every stat, trend and injury report on this game to provide our members with two winning plays tonight.  Try FiveStarPick.com today for only ($19.99) and see if our talent for picking NFL pro football winners exceeds your expectations.  We are the only sports handicapping service in the business that documents our last 30 plays along with our last 5 years results, then displays them on our homepage for all to see.  It’s because we have nothing to hide…our system just wins games against the spread.  Join our family today and start your winning streak tonight.

Rick Riley – FiveStarPick.com

The pros at FiveStarPick.com are looking forward to another winning day in the NFL postseason. Today we are hot on the AFC Championship game between the New York Jets and the Indianapolis Colts.  Las Vegas sportsbooks list the Colts as 7-point home favorites with a total of 39.

The Colts (15-2 straight up, 10-4-1 against the spread) held onto a 15-10 lead over the Jets in Week 16 with just over five minutes left in the third quarter when they decided to pull their starters. Backup quarterback Curtis Painter was sacked by Calvin Pace, fumbled, and Marques Douglas ran the ball back for the go-head touchdown. The Jets (11-7 SU, 11-7 Against The Spread) won the game as 4-point road ‘dogs, 29-15.

Oh the irony. If the Colts had kept in their starters and won that game, the Jets would have been virtually eliminated from the playoff picture.  Now, Peyton Manning has to beat the Jets to get to the Super Bowl.  So cool. 

New York has the best rushing offense in the NFL averaging 172.3 yards per game and Shonn Greene has been impressive in the playoffs with 263 rushing yards and two scores. The Jets have needed their rushing game to have a chance with Mark Sanchez under center. Sanchez has completed 63.2 percent of his passes for 282 yards and 2 touchdowns in the playoffs, but the rookie only had 23 pass attempts against the Chargers, completing 12 of them for 100 yards.  Sanchez has only five games this year where he has thrown the ball more than 30 times.

Sanchez should be pretty nervous today, because the Colts defese is playing with high intensity right now.  The Colts gave up just 87 yards on the ground and 183 through the air to Baltimore, winning 20-3 as 6.5-point home favorites.  Joe Flacco was picked twice in the final two minutes of the game.  The Colts are 14th in the league against the pass, giving up just 212.7 YPG.  Sanchez figured that out quickly as he only threw for 106 yards against them in Week 16. The Colt’s achilles heel is defending against the run. Indianapolis has the NFL’s 24th-ranked rush defense, allowing 126.5 rushing YPG.

What the Colt’s do have is the best quarterback the league has ever seen in Peyton Manning.  Manning has a relatively new receiveing corp since his last Super Bowl win, but he’s still getting major contribution out of Reggie Wayne (100 receptions, 1,264 yards, 10 TD) and Dallas Clark (100 catches, 1,106 yards, 10 TD).  He is also getting great performances out of second-year wideout Pierre Garcon (47 rec., 765 yards, 4 TD) and rookie Austin Collie (60 rec., 676 yards, 7 TD).

Indy needs the passing game to click because the Colts are the worst running attack in the NFL, gaining 80.9 YPG on the ground.  Joseph Addai has 828 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns and Donald Brown has 281 yards on the ground with three scores, but that’s it.

Success for the Colts on offense is definitely not a lock today. The Jets are giving up 312.5 YPG in the playoffs right now and Darrelle Revis anchors the best pass defense in the league with an average of 153.7 YPG during the regular season.

Recent history for the AFC Title Game shows the favorites have gone 4-3 Against The Spread in the last seven games. The ‘over’ has gone 5-2 in that stretch as well.

Who covers the spread in this AFC Championship game?  It’s very easy to find out.  Try FiveStarPick.com tonight for just ($19.99) and see if our talent for picking pro football winners exceeds your expectations.  We are the only sports handicapping service in the business who documents wins and losses and displays them on our homepage for all to witness.  It’s because we have nothing to hide…we just win games against the spread.  Join our family today and start your winning streak tonight.

Rick Riley – FiveStarPick.com

Now this is going to be a good game…FiveStarPick.com can’t wait for the AFC Championship game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers.  Pittsburgh is listed as 6-point favorites with the total set at 33.5.  CBS Sports will provide coverage of the AFC Championship Game from Heinz Field at 6:30 p.m. ET. Sunday’s forecast for Pittsburgh calls for snow showers, with a high of 27 degrees and a low of 19.

Baltimore (13-5 straight up, 14-4 against the spread) enters this matchup on a 4-game SU and ATS winning streak.  Last week they upset top-ranked Tennessee as a 3-point road dog, 13-10 and cashed the under again…improving the under to 5-1 the past six games.

Pittsburgh (13-4 SU, 10-7 ATS) crushed AFC West Champion San Diego last weekend as a 6-point home favorites, 35-24. The Steelers are now 7-1 SU and 6-2 ATS their last eight outings and the combined 59 points went over the 37.5-point closing total.

The Ravens are 6-2 ATS the last eight meetings in this series and Baltimore has a stout 6-2 ATS record as a road underdog.  The birds are 7-1 ATS away from home on grass surfaces and Pittsburgh is a modest 5-4 ATS when listed as a home favorite.

So who covers the spread in the AFC Championship Game?  It’s time to step up your game, become a member of our family and find out.  Why not try our service out for 2-days and see if our talent for picking winners exceeds your expectations?  With over 2300 active members, you owe it to yourself to find out why FiveStarPick.com is the most accurate sports handicapping service on the net.  Our dime bettors won nearly $100K in 2008.

Jimmy the Geek – FiveStarPick.com