But as clever as these nicknames may or may not be they belie a basic truth and that is the fact the Pittsburgh Steelers are a very physical team and they are going to try and knock your head off every chance they get –and that means on both sides of the ball. Just ask any unsuspecting DB or LB that has been flattened by a blind-side block (dirty, but legal) from Steelers WR Hines Ward.

Every Green Bay Packer on the field will be wary of these crack-back blocks and violent hits from the Steelers defenders but the man who has to pay special attention to the violence is Packers QB Aaron Rodgers.

Rodgers is a special player and it’s no fluke that he’s the highest rated passer in NFL playoff history (113.0 passer rating). So far in his 3 playoff games this season he’s been spectacular throwing for 790 yards, 6 TDs, 2 INTs and racking up a passer rating of 109.2.

But neither has he faced a defense like the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Kickoff for this Sunday February 6th matchup is set for 6:30 Eastern Time and SBG Global Sportsbook opened with the Packers as a 2-point favorite with an over/under total at 44.

The Super Bowl odds makers like Rodgers chances against the Steelers D and he’s more than capable of lifting his team to a Super Bowl victory but he’s also got to be very aware of the onslaught of blitzes he’s going to see.

The Steelers led the NFL in sacks (48.0) and that’s not by accident. No team blitzes as often or as exotically as Dick LeBeau’s unit and no matter how much teams prepare for it, he seems to always find some new wrinkle. The team’s blitz has produced constant turnovers and takeaways (league leading 41 takeaways this season) and been the backbone to the Steelers success.

Rodgers will be especially vulnerable as the Packers are likely to run a lot of 4 and 5 wide sets leaving very few blockers at home. But if Rodgers can get the ball out quickly and his receiving corps can continue to make big plays any won betting on the Super Bowl in favor the Packers will be very pleased with the result.

The Steelers have long been a defensive-minded franchise and once again it’s the team’s D that’s gotten it to an 8th Super Bowl appearance. The defense was first in scoring defense (14.5 ppg), 1st in rushing D (62.8 ypg) and by almost all accounts the top unit in the NFL.

The offense, however, was not in the same class. Overall the Steelers offense ranked 14th out of 32 teams. In terms of scoring the team was 12th in the league (23.4) and only jumped that high in the on the list due to blowouts against awful teams in the final weeks of the regular season.

But one thing the Steelers have done pretty well this season, and especially of late, is run the ball. For the season the Steelers ranked just 11th in the NFL in this category but at 120.3 ypg, that’s a pretty productive part of their offense.

More impressive is the fact that last week, with Pro Bowl center Markice out of the game the Steelers ran for 166 yards against a very stout NY Jets defense in the AFC Championship.

And that is exactly what the team will try and do against the Green Bay Packers in the Super bowl betting action.

Kickoff for this Sunday February 6th matchup is set for 6:30 Eastern Time and SBG Global Sportsbook opened with the Packers as a 2-point favorite with an over/under total at 44.

The Green Bay Packers (13-6) have an excellent defense. The team ranks only behind the Steelers in points allowed (15.0 ppg) and 5th overall in defensive rankings. Against the pass this is the 5th best team in the NFL, but if this unit has a weakness, it’s against the run.

The Packers have given up 114.9 ypg this season and rank a meager 18th in the league in this department.

If everything goes according to the Steelers game plan, RB Rashard Mendenhall will be the MVP of Super Bowl XVL. The Steelers are going to try and pound the ball against the Packers and eat up clock and if they’re successful, anyone betting on the Super Bowl being won by Pittsburgh should be very pleased with the results.

These are two of the oldest professional football teams in the country and together they form the oldest rivalry in the sport. Just to put things in perspective, these teams have met each other 182 times in the regular season and the post season. This is a rivalry dating all the way back to 1921 -4 decades before the creation of the modern day NFL.

And with that kind of history between these two teams you can be sure than when they meet again this weekend for remarkably just the second time in the post season during that historic span it’s going to be a great game.

Kickoff for this Sunday matchup is set for 3:05 Eastern Time and SBG Global Sportsbook opened with the Packers as a 3.5-point favorite with an over/under total at 43.5.

According to the odds NFL odds makers cooked for this game all indications seem to point to a close game. And recent history would report such a result.

The two NFC North rivals met twice during the regular season. The Bears took the first game 20-17 at home. In the second meeting between these two teams just 3 weeks ago (Week 17) the Packers got the W in a 10-3 slugfest.

There’s a couple important things to take away from these numbers the first of which is that teams match up well against one another and with the average margin of victory at just 5.0 ppg it should be a very close game indeed. Also, these teams combined score just 50 points in two games (12.5 ppg per team) and with nasty weather predicted this isn’t likely to be a high-scoring affair. That being said, the 43.5 over/under in the NFL betting odds action might be worth taking a look at.

The Steelers (12-4) and the Ravens (13-4) will be playing for the 8th time in three years this weekend. To say these teams know each other well is an understatement. And simply stating that these teams hate each other does their mutual animosity an injustice. There will be bruises, like broken bones and maybe even a concussion or two…and that’s all before the game even starts. Once the whistle is blown things will get really ugly.

Kickoff for this Sunday matchup is set for 4:35 Eastern Time and SBG Global Sportsbook opened with the Steelers as a 3.5-point favorite with an over/under total at 37.

Anyone looking to wager against the NFL betting odds in this game should expect to see a very low scoring game, as reflected in the betting line.

In the recent history between these two teams the games have been very close and very low scoring. Only once in the teams past 8 meetings have both teams scored more than 20 points and you would have to go all the way back to November 5th, 2007 for the last matchup that either team scored more than 30 points.

You hear all the hype about these teams’ defenses and how great they are but the numbers don’t lie: Pittsburgh is #1 in total D (14.5 ppg) and Baltimore is #3 (16.9 pgg) and these units are going to play a huge role in the outcome of this game.

But these are so evenly matched that the games aren’t just low scoring but extremely close as well. Both games this season have been decided by 3 points and won in the closing seconds. In the past 8 meetings dating back to 2007, the biggest margin of victory for either team has been 4 points.

While this game may be too close to call the one certainty is that it will be a defensive battle and likely a very low scoring and close game based on recent NFL gambling history.

This year the Jets enter the playoffs with 11-5 record but are still the Wild Card and still have to travel for the playoffs. And Mark Sanchez is still the QB although he’s shown little if any improvement as a starting QB in his sophomore season in the league.

If the Jets are going to beat the Indy Colts (10-6) on their turf in this weekend’s AFC Wild Card game Sanchez has to have the game of his life. And that’s no sure bet.

Kickoff for this Saturday matchup is set for 8:25 Eastern Time and SBG Global Sportsbook opened with the Colts as a 2.5-point favorite with an over/under total at 44.5.

Sanchez performed well last season in the NFL gambling playoff action throwing for 4 TDs and just 2 INTs while finishing with a passer rating over 90.0 in 3 playoff games in ’09. Still, after watching him play in the 2010 regular season there’s little reason to think he’ll be able to duplicate those numbers. For the year Sanchez threw for 3,291 yards, 17 TDs and 13 INTs; not terrible, but certainly not noteworthy.

Against a Colts run D that has been among the best in the NFL the past month Sanchez will have to be superb if the Jets are going to win the road on Saturday? New York’s offense is predicated on the run game (148.4 ypg) and with the Colts run defense stonewalling every opponent they’ve faced over the past month the Jets aren’t likely to have a big day on the ground.

The best defense against Peyton Manning is a good running game and the Jets will certainly try to run the ball. But if they get behind early they’ll have to try the passing game and Sanchez is not exactly the guy you want behind center with your team’s playoff fate in the balance.

The safer bet is on a proven product like Manning leading this team to another sports betting win the playoffs.

At 3-10 the Bills have managed to win back-to-back games just once this season but that’s exactly what the team will be looking to do this weekend when they take on the 7-6 Miami Dolphins.

Kickoff for this Sunday matchup is set for 1:05 Eastern Time and SBG Global opened with the Dolphins as a 5.5-point favorite with an over/under total at 41.

Miami has the home field advantage in this NFL betting odds matchup but, Sun Life Stadium hasn’t been much of an advantage at all for this team as its lost almost all its games at home this season (1-5)

The Dolphins have had a pretty solid defense this year giving up just 18.8 ppg (8th in the NFL). The run defense has been particularly good surrendering just 98.6 yards per game and 6 TDs.

But the when you’re only scoring 17.3 ppg, as the Dolphins are, it doesn’t really matter how well your D plays. Much of the offense’s futility falls on QB Chad Henne who’s been awfully bad (60.5 % completion percentage, 13 TDs 15 INTs) but the O-line has been perhaps even worse as the run game has sputtered as well (106.2 ypg).

When you add up all these deficiencies you wonder how this team even has a winning record. And it also sets up the very real potential for a Buffalo upset.

Bills QB Ryan Fitzpatrick has done a pretty decent job helming this offense (229.6 ypg, 21 TDs, 11 INTs) and over the past month the once dormant running game has come back to like. RB Fred Jackson has 329 yards in his past 4 games and 2 TDs, not Hall of Fame numbers but not bad considering 2 of those games came against run-stuffing defenses like Pittsburgh and Minnesota.

The Bills offense in general suffered against those two premier defenses but not counting those two games Buffalo is its 3 previous games and even has a 49 point explosion against Cincy. It’s more likely we see a game like that on Sunday than the 38-14 loss to the Vikings.

Pick the Bills to at least win this sports betting matchup with points (+5.5) but this team has chance to win this outright.

The only thing the Niners team is missing for success is an above average QB. And it may have just found their above average signal caller in the former Ohio State standout Troy Smith. Smith’s numbers have been (207.2 ypg, 3 TDs, 2 INTs) decent but in the one stat column that means the most (win-loss) they’ve been superb: 3-1.

This weekend the 4-7 Niners will travel to the Frozen Tundra of Lambeau Field to take on the 7-4 Packers.

Kickoff for this Sunday matchup is set for 1:05 Eastern Time and SBG Global opened with the Packers as a 9-point favorite with an over/under total at 41.5.

Nine points in a December game is huge, especially between two teams competing for division titles. Even with the loss of San Fran’s best player, RB Frank Gore, that seems like a very wide gulf.

The Packers are coming off a very tough road loss to an excellent Falcons squad (9-2) and will be at their best as they try and keep pace with the NFC North leading Bears (8-3). The Pack is also 4-1 at home and in December it’s all but impossible for visitors to win at Lambeau.

But at the same time the Niners are team that after losing its first 5 games has gone 4-6 and won 3 of its past 4 games. With Smith under center this team is playing with a lot of confidence and RB Brian Westbrook looks to be a perfect fit for its offensive schemes.

Green Bay is a better team, of that there’s no doubt, but it doesn’t seem like it’s 9 points better than Niners squad that will be playing for potential shot at the division lead (currently just 1.0 game back) this weekend.

Pick the Niners to cover the sports betting spread but likely fall short of the outright win.

This is a team that is traditionally a defensive minded team in the mold of head coach Jeff Fischer and scores just enough not to lose. But with Vince Young the 2nd highest passer in the NFL at the moment, RB Chris Johnson always just a handoff away from scoring (8 TDs in 8 games, and the addition of deep threat WR Randy Moss, this unit is formidable.

The 4-4 Miami Dolphins will have a tough time trying to keep this team in check and may not succeed when they meet up in the NFL gambling action this weekend.

Kickoff for this Sunday matchup is set for 1:05 Eastern Time and SBG Global Sportsbook opened with the Titans as a 1-point favorite with an over/under total at 43.

Young has only thrown for 998 yards in parts of the 7 games he’s played but his 9 TD to 2 INT ratio is superb and his mobility always adds a wrinkle that drives defensive coordinators crazy. With Moss in the lineup to compliment Young’s strong arm and scrambling ability there should be plenty long TD passes for these two.

The Dolphins defense has been sturdy this season but highly susceptible to the deep ball and could be disastrous against Moss –a player that haunted this team when he faced them while suited up for the AFC East rival Pats.

Miami has only given up 213.9 passing yards per game but it’s also given up 12 passing TDs (mostly long balls) and has only 5 INTs. The Dolphins run defense is potent (107.1 yards per game) and RB Chris Johnson will likely be kept in check on the run and in the passing game as well as Miami’s LBs are a pretty good pass coverage unit.

But this team will only be able to slow down the #1 offense in the NFL for so long and even if the Titans are held below their scoring average, Miami will still have a long way to go to catch on the scoreboard with their inept offense.

It’s hard to imagine Tennessee losing this sports betting matchup.

But since the return of the All Pro QB Ben Roethlisberger from suspension the team has gone just 2-1 and while looking impressive as a passer the team’s offense has stagnated a bit since Big Ben has been in the lineup.

When the team hosts the 2-5 Cincinnati Bengals in the week 9 action the Steelers have got to do a better job of mixing up the play calling or risk dropping 2 straight games for the first time all season.

The Bengals will no doubt have taken notes from the Week 8 beat down that the New Orleans Saints (5-3) handed Pittsburgh and the AFC North divisional games are always tough.

Kickoff for this Monday matchup is set for 8:20 Eastern Time and SBG Global Sportsbook opened with the Steelers as a 6-point favorite with an over/under total at 41.

No one gives Cincy much hope in this matchup and on the road against a team of Pittsburgh’s talent it doesn’t look good for Bengal fans. When the Bengals have the ball they’ll be facing the defense in sports betting (14.6 points per game) and one that is virtually impossible to run against (just 58.9 rushing yards per game).

On defense the defense the Bengals will have to contend with the passing skills of Big Ben (251.3 ypg, 5 TDs, 2 INTs in 3 games) as well as a rushing attack that has averaged 117.3 yards per game.

But the Steelers D is susceptible to giving up big plays on deep passes and the Bengals have a decent passing attack with QB Carson Palmer, WR Chad Ochocinco and WR TO who ranks in the top 10 in the NFL in receiving yards, TDs and catches.

Even if the Bengals get down early they’ve shown a great ability to come back this season but on the road in Pittsburgh, a Cincy NFL gambling win seems like a mighty tall order.

But these teams have bombed so far this season (the Pack to a much lesser extent) and the only way the Packers or Cowboys will be at the Super Bowl is if they buy a ticket. Green Bay has struggled to a respectable 5-3 record and leads the hugely disappointing NFC North. But anyone who’s seen this banged up team play knows it’s not a legit post season contender.

The Cowboys, on the other hand, have brought new definition to the term ‘disappointment’. In fact, it’s hard to remember a team in the NFL performing worse than the Cowboys in relation to preseason expectations.

Kickoff for this Sunday night matchup is set for 8:30 Eastern Time and SBG Global Sportsbook opened with the Packers as a 8-point favorite with an over/under total at 45.5.

Dallas (1-6) may not be the worst team in football (1-6 Carolina takes that title, despite the Bills having a slightly worse 0-7 record) but its close. There was a small sliver of hope that this team might rebound from the awful start to the season and at least crawl back to .500.

But when their bitter NFC East rival New York Giants broke Romo’s collar bone the 2010 NFL gambling season when down the toilet for this team.
John Kitna now helms the Cowboy offense and you’ve got to give the guy credit for leading the league in passing yards last week (379 yards) but he also threw 4 INTs and the Cowboys lost yet again.

Kitna had better pack his track shoes because the Packers pass rush, led by NFL sack leader Clay Matthews (10.), should destroy the Cowboy’s shaking O-line.

Green Bay and Dallas are both averaging 22.0 points per game but the Packers have the obvious advantage with QB Aaron Rogers (2,011 yards, 12 TDs, 9 INTs) twice the QB that backup Kitna is.

Green Bay is better on both sides of the football and the question isn’t whether the Packers will win this sports betting matchup but rather by how much.