Congratulations to Indianapolis for clinching the AFC South last week by beating Houston 35-24. With yet another come from behind win they have now run this season’s record to 11-0 and have won a record tying 20 consecutive regular season games. A couple other teams with impressive winning streaks include San Diego and Tennessee. The Chargers made it six in a row by crushing Kansas City for the second time this season. This time round it was by the score of 43-14. The Titans have won their fifth in a row after a dreadful 0-6 start. Their last win was made possible when QB Vince Young drove his team down the field 99 yards and threw the winning TD pass to Kenny Britt as time expired in a 20-17 win over Arizona. The Broncos kept pace in the West by beating the N.Y Giants 26-6 to snap their four game losing streak. Cincinnati grinded out a 16-7 win over the Browns to open up a two game lead in the AFC North. Pittsburgh’s woes continued as they lost their third game in a row, falling to Baltimore 20-17. With QB Ben Roethlisberger sidelined with a concussion, his replacement Dennis Dixon threw a costly interception in overtime to set up a game winning field goal for the Ravens. New England did not have an answer for Drew Brees and the Saints and were manhandled 38-17 on Monday night, while Miami failed to take advantage as they lost to Buffalo 31-14 the day before. Jacksonville was held to a field goal in their 20-3 loss to San Francisco.
Moving onto week thirteen in the AFC the key match ups we will be reviewing are; New England @ Miami, Houston @ Jacksonville, and Tennessee @ Indianapolis.
New England Patriots (-5) @ Miami Dolphins Current Over/Under 46
After getting pushed around pretty good on Monday night, the Patriots will be looking for someone to take their frustrations out on. Unfortunately after watching how their defense was completely exposed I’m not too sure this game will as one sided as you think. Miami is coming off a terrible loss of their own after getting blown out by the Bills. Chad Henne’s three interceptions proved they cannot rely on him to win a game with his arm. If the Dolphins can establish their run game early and avoid falling behind on the scoreboard they will be able to keep this game close. The key match-up will be Tom Brady against Miami‘s defensive secondary, which not necessarily one of their strengths. While I do not think Miami will win this game I think they do enough to cover the spread. I’m going with the Dolphins and the OVER.
Houston Texans @ Jacksonville Jaguars (-3) Current Over/Under 46.5
This is a match-up of two teams that just cannot seem to stand success. After getting their record to 5-3, Houston has lost three straight and are in danger of completely falling out of the playoff picture with another loss. Jacksonville was in solid control of a playoff spot but looked awful in their 20-3 loss to the 49ers that dropped them to 6-5 on the year. In their first meeting back in week three the Jaguars, behind the running of Maurice Jones-Drew who rushed for 119 yards and three TD’s won 31-24.They will go with pretty much the same formula to try and pound out another win. The Texans main problem has been committing mistakes, penalties, and turnovers at the worst possible time. They have the ability to start a game fast and score a lot of points, but they do not have the ability to close opponents out in the 4th quarter when they need to the most. I like the Jaguars and the OVER.
Tennessee Titans @ Indianapolis Colts (-7) Current Over/Under 46.5
Behind QB Vince Young and RB Chris Johnson the Titans have risen from the ashes of a 0-6 start to win five games in a row and are actually in the thick of the AFC wildcard picture. Indianapolis has won their first 11 games and can tie the record for most consecutive regular season wins at 20 with a victory here. They have also recorded five straight come from behind wins which make you wonder how many lives to these cats have. The Titans are also coming off an incredible come from behind win against Arizona, where Young drove the team 99 yards and threw a 10 yard game winning TD on 4th down to WR Kenny Britt as time expired. The real story for Tennessee has been the running of Johnson. He currently leads the NFL with 1396 rushing yards and is averaging over six yards per carry. This is an area where the Titans should be able take advantage of the Colts’ defense to keep this game close. I’m going with the Titans and the UNDER.
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