Perhaps the best NFL game this week happens Sunday night. The Pittsburgh Steelers head south to take on the Baltimore Ravens in a match-up predicted to be dominated by defense.

The Ravens and Steelers are tied for the AFC North lead with an 8-3 record. Both defenses have been outstanding. The Ravens have given up a measly 188 points and the Steelers 181.

If the Steelers win, they would own the tiebreaker – for now- due to the Ravens division loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 2.

In the first meeting on Oct 3, the Ravens won 17-14 at Heinz Field, but that was without Ben Roethlisberger, who missed the first 4 games of the 2010 NFL season to do a league suspension.

But in the second meeting on Sunday, Big Ben is expected to play even though he has a sprained right foot he suffered in last week’s game against Buffalo.

In the first meeting, the Ravens were without safety Ed Reed, who has 4 interceptions and a forced fumble since returning from a hip injury in late October.

Offensively, the Ravens have scored 250 points, averaging 22.7 points per game. The Steelers have score 254 and are averaging 23.1 ppg.

The Ravens are 5-0 at home while the Steelers are 5-1 away. Both are 2-1 in their division and 6-2 in the AFC.

The Steelers offensive leaders are QB Ben Roethlisberger (137-220, 1825 yards, 12 TDs), running back Rashad Mendenhall (238 carries, 962 yards, 9 TDs) and wide receiver Mike Wallace (36 rec, 792 yds, 8 TDs).

The Ravens offense is lead by QB Joe Flacco (231-365, 2722 yds, 18 TDs), running back Ray Rice (204 carries, 815 yds, 3 TDs) and wide receiver Anquan Boldin (51 rec, 652 yds, 6 TDs).

PACKERS FALCONS: GAME DAY PARTICULARS
Visitors	Pittsburgh Steelers (8-3)
Home	Baltimore Ravens (8-3)
When	Sunday Dec 6 08:20 pm EST
Where	M&T Stadium, Baltimore, MD
TV COVERAGE	NBC
WEATHER	42º/32º 10% Precip
Favorite	Ravens -3
Under/Over	40

STEELERS RAVENS TRENDS AGAINST THE SPREAD (ATS)

STEELERS RAVENS AVERAGES
Both teams are very evenly matched offensively and defensively. However, the Steelers show an advantage in defense against the rush (64 yds per game vs. 101)

Pittsburgh OFFENSE		Baltimore DEFENSE
Rush Yds/Gms	126.0	Rush Yds/Gms	101.7
Pass Yds/Gms	208.5	Pass Yds/Gms	205.6
Tot Yds/Gms	334.0	Tot Yds/Gms	307.4

Baltimore OFFENSE		Pittsburgh DEFENSE
Rush Yds/Gms	114.4	Rush Yds/Gms	64.0
Pass Yds/Gms	233.9	Pass Yds/Gms	240.5
Tot Yds/Gms	348.0	Tot Yds/Gms	304.5

STEELERS RAVENS INJURIES
The Baltimore Ravens Offensive left tackle Michael Oher has a sprained right knee but is expected to play and fullback Le’Ron McClain is doubtful after spraining his ankle last week.

Perhaps the bigger story regarding Baltimore’s injury report is on defense. Two of the Ravens safeties are questionable; Dawan Landry (concussion) and Tom Zbikowski (heel).

STEELERS RAVENS GAME PREDICTION
Both teams are evenly matched, have great defenses and better-than-average quarterbacks.
Expect Joe Flacco and Ray Lewis to lead the Ravens in a low scoring win.

RAVENS 21, STEELERS 17

Sources: espn.com New York Post, New York Daily News

The Baltimore Ravens and the Indianapolis Colts meet on Saturday in a 2010 AFC Divisional Playoff game. The Ravens advanced to this AFC Divisional game by beating the New England Patriots in their AFC Wild Card matchup last week. The Colts are the AFC South Division Champions, are the AFC number 1 seed and have home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

The Colts are favored by 6.5 points and the under/over is 46.5 points.

The Colts had a chance at an undefeated season going into week 15 but the team decided to rest their starters in the second half against the Jets. The result was a Jets win and the end to the Colts run at 16-0. Colts fans were angry about the move but the Colts management stuck to their decision to rest the starters to give them the best chance at ascertaining their goal – a Super Bowl win. The Colts ended up 14-2 and haven’t played a meaningful game in over a month. So the Colts could be rusty coming into this Divisional playoff matchup with the Ravens.

The Ravens are coming off an impressive win against Bill Belichick’s New England Patriots. The Ravens caused Pats QB Tom Brady to throw for 3 interceptions and 1 fumble. RB Ray Rice had an 83-yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage and the Ravens never looked back. The final score of that AFC Wild Card game was 33-14.

Ravens QB Joe Flacco has thrown ofr 21 TDs 12 INTs for a 63.1% completion percentage. Colts QB Payton Manning has thrown for 33 TDs 16 INTs and a completion percentage of 68.8.

The Ravens hold the rushing advantage over the Colts (who are rated last in the NFL in rushing). Former Rutger standout Ray Rice is averaging 5.3 yard per carry and has scored 7 TDs; he also leads the team in receptions with 78 for 702 yards and 1 TD.

But the Colts passing offense is absolutely devastating. The Colts WR Reggie Wayne and TE Dallas Clark both have 100 receptions, 10 TDs and over 1000 receiving yards.

Although the Ravens have the momentum and the Colts may be rusty, the Colts passing offense will be too much for the Ravens defense. The Ravens will win but will not cover the spread.

Thenflthisweek.com Prediction

Colts 31 Ravens 28

The AFC East Division champion New England Patriots (10-6) host the AFC wild card winner Baltimore Ravens (9-7) in the second AFC matchup of Wildcard Weekend. If you’re a betting man, you can bet on the Patriots winning this one and moving on to the second week of the AFC playoffs.

The Patriots certainly aren’t the same team they were in their Superbowl seasons of 2001, 2003 and 2004. But they still have arguably the best active coach in the NFL – Bill Belichick. They also have future hall-of-famer Tom Brady leading the offense. One impressive stat that stands out is the Belichick-Brady combo have a 14-3 playoff record.

The Baltimore Ravens are lead by sophomore coach-QB combo of John Harbaugh and Joe Flacco. In 2008, the Ravens stunned the masses by not only making the playoffs but advancing to the 2008 AFC Championship game. However, in 2009 they barely beat the Oakland Raiders to win one of the two wildcard spots. And since the departure of defensive coordinator Rex Ryan (Now the Jets coach), the Ravens defense just isn’t the same.

The New England Patriots offense does have one big issue to overcome. They will operate without their star WR Wes Welker (placed on injured reserve). But Thenflthisweek.com believes that the combination of Patriots future hall-of-fame WR Randy Moss and rookie WR Julian Edelman should be able to pickup most of the slack left by Welker’s absence. The Pats also have a multitude of running backs in Kevin Faulk, Laurence Maroney and Sammy Morris available to carry the ball.

Don’t be misled by the Ravens offense. QB Joe Flacco has a complement of talent to help move the ball in RB Ray Rice, WR Derrick Mason and TE Todd Heap. But based on his 2009 regular season statistics, QB Flacco is not as effective on the road as he is at home.

The Patriots are favored by 3.5 points with the under/over is 43 points.

The combination and playoff history of Bill Belichick and Tom Brady is the determining factor in our prediction.

Thenflthisweek.com AFC playoff prediction

Patriots 21 Ravens 17