Announcement

**StarDust Bum** · 12-08-2011, 06:13 PM

NFL

Thursday, December 8

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Thursday Night Football: Browns at Steelers
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Cleveland Browns at Pittsburgh Steelers (-14, 38.5)

THE STORY: The Pittsburgh Steelers have an outside chance of wrapping up a playoff berth this week, and playing one of their favorite opponents certainly won't hurt their chances. Pittsburgh goes for its fourth consecutive victory and eighth win in nine games when it hosts the struggling Cleveland Browns on Thursday night. It shapes up as a mighty uphill struggle for the punchless Browns, who have dropped 14 of the last 15 to the Steelers and haven't won in Pittsburgh since 2003. The Steelers are in a four-way tie with New England, Houston and Baltimore for the best record in the AFC.

TV: NFL Network, 8:20 p.m. ET.

LINE: The Steelers opened as two-touchdown favorites and haven't moved much off that key number. The total has dropped from 40 to 38.5 points.

WEATHER: Temperatures will fall into the high 20s in Heinz Field. The will be a slight 6-mph winds, blowing WSW.

ABOUT THE BROWNS (4-8, 3-7-2 ATS): Cleveland is playing the first of three straight road games before closing out the season at home against Pittsburgh. The Browns managed only 233 yards of total offense in a 24-10 loss to Baltimore last week. It marked the 10th time this season they have been held to 17 points or fewer. Cleveland allowed 290 yards rushing by the Ravens, including 204 by Ray Rice. QB Colt McCoy failed to throw for 200 yards for the third straight game and suffered a sprained knee that will limit his mobility against the Steelers.

ABOUT THE STEELERS (9-3, 6-6 ATS): Pittsburgh played perhaps its best all-around game of the season in a 35-7 win over Cincinnati. Rashard Mendenhall rushed for a pair of TDs as the Steelers scored 28 points in the second quarter. Ben Roethlisberger threw a pair of scoring passes to WR Mike Wallace and Pittsburgh’s defense did the rest, limiting Cincinnati to 13 first downs and 232 yards. Mendenhall’s rushing totals are down, but he has run for five touchdowns in the last four games. LB James Harrison turned in his second three-sack effort in the last four games.

TRENDS:

* Over is 7-1-1 in the last nine meetings in Pittsburgh.
* Over is 8-3-1 in the last 12 meetings.
* Favorite is 9-4-1 ATS in their last 14 meetings.
* Browns are 4-10-1 ATS in their last 15 meetings.
* Browns are 2-5 ATS in their last seven meetings in Pittsburgh.

EXTRA POINTS:

1. Wallace needs 23 yards to reach 1,000 for the second straight season.

2. Josh Cribbs of the Browns has returned three kickoffs for TDs against the Steelers.

3. Cleveland and Pittsburgh rank 1-2 in passing yards allowed, but in the Browns’ case it’s because opponents are content to run all over them.

PREDICTION: Steelers 27, Browns 10. Roethlisberger improves to 13-1 against Cleveland.

**StarDust Bum** · 12-08-2011, 06:15 PM

NFL

Thursday, December 8

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Tale of the tape: Browns at Steelers
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The AFC North takes center stage Thursday night, with two teams headed in separate directions.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are rounding into form and look ready for a postseason push. The Cleveland Browns, on the other hand, have just one win in their last six games and are counting the days until the end of the year.

Here’s the Tale of the Tape for Thursday Night Football:

Offense

During the past six games, Cleveland is averaging only 13 points an outing. Running back Peyton Hillis isn’t at 100 percent and has been vanilla in his two games back from a hamstring/hip injury. He mustered only 45 yards on 12 carries in Week 13.

The passing game hasn’t been much better. Quarterback Colt McCoy was 17 for 35, throwing for 192 yards, one touchdown and one interception in last week’s loss to the Baltimore Ravens. McCoy suffered a knee injury in that game, but could play Thursday despite the short week.

Hillis happened to be the Browns’ top receiving option in that game too, catching one pass for a 52-yard gain. Tight end Ben Watson reeled in three passes for 34 yards, in an offense that goes have the horses to pose a downfield threat.

Pittsburgh’s receiving corps is one of the fastest in the NFL, with burners like Mike Wallace and Antonio Brown streaking up the sidelines. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger completed 15 of 23 pass attempts for 176 yards and two scores, despite an injured thumb.

The Steelers' passing game is the best part of their offense. The club is in the NFL's Top 10 for passing yards per game and passing yards per completion. The Yellow and Black make the best of their red zone opportunities, too. Pitt finds paydirt 53 percent of the time it gets inside the 20 and 73 percent over the last three games.

Edge: Steelers

Defense

Pittsburgh’s defense is ramping up for the playoffs, holding its last two opponents to single digits. The Steelers limited the Kansas City Chiefs to nine points on 252 total yards, and held the Bengals to a touchdown and 232 total yards Sunday.

Linebacker James Harrison unleashed the fury on Cincinnati, picking up three sacks and six tackles last week. Corner Ike Taylor made seven tackles and picked off one pass versus the Bengals. The Steelers rank No. 1 in yards allowed and are giving up just 16.2 points per game – fourth lowest in the NFL.

The Browns defense still remains the team’s lone bright spot, raking eighth in the NFL. Despite the loss of defensive coordinator Rob Ryan, Cleveland has maintained the league best pass defense, giving up 173.3 yards through the air per game.

However, those numbers may be skewed, since opponents have been able to roll over the Browns running defense, which ranks 31st in the NFL, and can all but abandon the pass when they can easily break off big chunks of yardage on the ground. Baltimore ran for 290 yards on 55 carries versus Cleveland last week, with RB Ray Rice totaling 204 yards and one score.

Edge: Pittsburgh

Special teams

Cleveland return specialist Josh Cribbs ranks sixth in the NFL in kick return yards, averaging 26.4 per return while picking up an average of nine yards on punt returns.

Cribbs has the attention of Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, after burning Pittsburgh on special teams throughout his career. Cribbs is tied for an NFL record three return touchdowns against a single opponent.

Kicker Phil Dawson is tied for 19th in the NFL for field goals made and is kicking at a 79.2 percent rate. However, he does have a big leg, going 7 for 8 on field goals of 50 or more yards.

Pittsburgh is eighth in average kick return yards, at 25.6 per kickoff, and punt return yards, at 11.7 per punt. Brown has been the Steelers go-to guy on returns, averaging 27.8 per kick and 12.2 per punt including one punt return TD.

Kicker Shaun Suisham is hitting only 75 percent of his field goal attempts and doesn’t have the biggest boot, going 6 for 8 from 40-49 yards and 0-1 from 50 yards or more.

Edge: Browns

Word on the street

"If we would have played them 14 or 15 times this year, then yes. But the team we are assembling and the team they are assembling are different than some of the teams that have taken part in that history.” – Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin about the Steelers be confident after winning 14 of the last 15 games with the Browns.

"At this point we'll just have to see. I think he got hit on a screen pass. It was kind of a glancing shot and then he played the whole game so I think he's probably just sore. I wouldn't say that he would miss the game." – Browns head coach Pat Shurmur on the status of McCoy for Thursday.

**StarDust Bum** · 12-08-2011, 06:24 PM

Week 14 Preview: Browns at Steelers

CLEVELAND BROWNS (4-8)

at PITTSBURGH STEELERS (9-3)

Kickoff: Thursday, 8:20 p.m. EDT
Line: Pittsburgh -14, Total: 38.5

The sizzling Steelers look to continue their dominance over division foe Cleveland when they host the Browns at Heinz Field on Thursday night.

The Steelers are peaking at the right time, winning seven of their past eight games. The defense is getting healthy and is finally creating some turnovers. After a total of 4 TO in its first nine games, Pittsburgh has eight takeaways in the past three weeks. This does not bode well for a Cleveland offense that has scored 14 points or fewer in six of the past seven games. The Browns were out-rushed 290 to 59 in their 24-10 home loss to Baltimore last week. The Steelers are 16-2 SU (12-6 ATS) when hosting Cleveland since 1992, and they will roll the Browns again on Thursday. Pick PITTSBURGH to win and cover.

This anti-Browns FoxSheets trend also supports the Steelers:

Play Against - Underdogs or pick (CLEVELAND) - after having lost 3 out of their last 4 games, when playing on a Thursday. (23-5 since 1983.) (82.1%, +17.5 units. Rating = 2*).

And this four-star FoxSheets trend expects a lot of points to be scored, and for the OVER to occur.

Play Over - Home teams against the total (PITTSBURGH) - after covering the spread in 4 or 5 out of their last 6 games, top-level team, winning 75% or more of their games, in the second half of the season. (38-8 over the last 5 seasons.) (82.6%, +29.2 units. Rating = 4*).

Pittsburgh QB Ben Roethlisberger has loved facing Cleveland in his career, winning 12 of 13 starts and throwing 19 TD and 9 INT, while rushing for three more scores. He’s playing pretty well lately, especially considering his broken thumb. Since the injury, Roethlisberger has completed 57-of-87 passes (66%) for 614 yards, 4 TD and 2 INT in three games. The Browns do boast the league’s best pass defense (173 YPG), so Roethlisberger could be forced to throw shorter passes to TE Heath Miller or WR Hines Ward over the middle as opposed to deep balls to his speedy wideouts Mike Wallace and Antonio Brown. RB Rashard Mendenhall should find plenty of running room against the league’s 2nd-worst run defense (151 YPG). Mendenhall scored three touchdowns against Cleveland last year, and the Browns allowed 204 rushing yards to Ray Rice last week. Steady veteran LB Scott Fujita is done for the year (hand), which gives more reason to believe the Steelers will run all over the Browns.

The Browns would also like to establish their ground game after being held to 59 yards in Baltimore. It won’t be easy though, as the Steelers have held each of their past six opponents to less than 120 rushing yards. They also stuffed Peyton Hillis last season, limiting him to 54 yards on 18 carries (3.0 YPC). Hillis is now suffering from a strained hip and may not be fully healed during the short week. If he can’t go, it’s expected backup Montario Hardesty will take his place. Hardesty has been bothered by a calf injury, but his zero carries last week were reportedly not injury-related. The Steelers have a couple of walking wounded at linebacker with LaMarr Woodley and Larry Foote both questionable for this game with hamstring injuries.

**StarDust Bum** · 12-08-2011, 06:26 PM

No. 25 Harvard visits No. 9 UConn Thursday

HARVARD CRIMSON (8-0)

at CONNECTICUT HUSKIES (7-1)

Tip-off: Thursday, 7:00 p.m. EDT
Line: Connecticut -6.5, Total: 130.5

No. 25 Harvard will face a major test in its first game as a top-25 team in school history when the Crimson travel to play No. 9 Connecticut on Thursday night in Storrs.

These teams nearly collided 12 days ago at the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament, but while Harvard upended Florida State in the semis, the Huskies were upset by Central Florida. But while the Crimson went on to win that tournament, there’s no doubt that the Huskies are the better team. UConn blew Harvard out of the building at Hartford a year ago, winning 81-52, and the Huskies have won each of their five home games by double-digits. CONNECTICUT is the pick.

The FoxSheets have a few trends working in favor of the Huskies, including:

Play On - Home favorites of 3.5 to 9.5 points (CONNECTICUT) - after leading their last 3 games by 5+ points at the half, with four starters returning from last year in the first 10 games of the season. (36-10 since 1997, 78.3%, +25 units. Rating = 3*).

Harvard has been winning with a slow-tempo, defensive-minded style that gives them a shot at the upset. The Crimson beat Florida State in the Bahamas 46-41, one of five opponents they’ve held under 50 points. They’re 312 out of 345 teams in adjusted tempo so far, which is why senior power forward Keith Wright currently leads the team with just 11.4 PPG. Forward Kyle Casey (10.9 PPG) and guard Laurent Rivard (10.1 PPG) are the only other Crimson players averaging in double-figures.

A year ago, Harvard shot just 30.0% from the field in a lopsided loss to the Huskies, but Wright had a solid game (18 points on 8-for-12 shooting).

UConn has far more firepower than any team Harvard has faced. Since returning from the Bahamas, where it beat Florida State in overtime to take third place, UConn scored a 75-62 home win over Arkansas on Saturday. Star shooting guard Jeremy Lamb played only 26 minutes in that game because of foul trouble, and his 14 points was his lowest output of the season. Freshman Ryan Boatright, an undersized scorer in the Kemba Walker mold, shined in his second career game. Coming off the bench, Boatright had 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting and six assists. He had scored 14 points, including three late free throws to force overtime, in his debut against Florida State (Boatright missed the season’s first six games while serving an NCAA suspension for receiving improper benefits).

UConn also has point guard Shabazz Napier (16.8 PPG, 6.1 APG) to push the tempo, which will be a key in this matchup of contrasting styles. The Huskies outrebounded Harvard 42-31 in last year’s matchup, and have a serious size advantage again with a low-post rotation of 6-foot-9 Tyler Olander (7.8 PPG, 6.6 RPG), 6-foot-11 Andre Drummond (7.3 PPG, 6.3 RPG) and 6-foot-9 Alex Oriakhi (6.9 PPG, 5.8 RPG).

**Kaptain** · 12-08-2011, 07:00 PM

gl today Star Dust....get em my man

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