Sunday is the AFC Championship. This will decide the conference rep in Super Bowl XL. The final outcome is wide open, but one thing is for sure we are in for some real no holds barred football.

Sunday at 3pm EST it will be the Broncos hosting the Steelers. They have been made a 3 point favorite. But, let’s face the fact that the Broncos have a perfect 8 – 0 home mark and the point total on the game is 41 and 41.5, so a 3 point would seem to be a very small number  

You have to lay $175 on the Broncos and get $155 on the Steelers.

The teams are two of the most prominent franchises in the NFL and their game plans are from the same mould. ” Run the ball on offence and stop the run on defense.”

The Steelers were sixth seed and are the first to get to a conference game and are looking to be the first to play in a Super Bowl. In terms of defense they top the league at 284 yards per game and with just 86 yards allowed per game on the ground.

The Broncos who were seeded second, allow 313 yards per game. This puts their defense in the top half of the league at number 7. On the other hand theirrush defense is behind Pittsburgh at just 85 yards per contest.

The Broncos who are led by Mike Anderson, hold top spot in the AFC for the rushing game. The Steelers are right behind at number 3. They rely on a two headed attack and are led by Willie Parker and Jerome Bettis

The game will be decided by which team can gain the upper hand. The two teams are known for their running prowess, and will want to take the pressure off their quarter backs, both of whom are ranked as top signal callers in their conference.

 The two teams are very evenly matched and a look at the statistics of last week’s games will be very significant.

Steeler’s quarter back, Ben Roethlisberger who is the AFC’s third rated passer at 98.6%, was good on 14-24 for 197 yards with 2 touchdown passes and one INT in leading his team to one of the biggest upsets in recent memory of the game.

Jack Plummer, in a game the night before, connected on 15-26 for the same 197 yards with one touch down pass and one INT. Jack’s rating is good for fifth best in the AFC.And on the year he was good on 61% of his passes3,366 yards with 18 touch downs against 7 interceptions.

Roethlisberger attempted nearly 200 fewer passes with the result that he achieved 1000 less yards. However, he completed 63% and managed 17 touchdowns with 9 INT.

The fact is that the Broncos defeated the Patriots last week, but take into account that their defensive effort was not impressive. They allowed 420 yards, 341 in the air. They will have to do much better against the Steelers. The Pittsberg defensive was overall very solid only allowing Peyton Manning and the Colts a total of 305 yards.

Roethlisberger, only in his second year in the league, is now in his second AFC title game, just a win away from putting Pittsberg in their sixth Super Bowl. For coach Bill Cowher, the title game is his sixth in fourteen seasons in Pittsberg and the fourth in five years. The Steelers, including last seasons 41-27 drubbing at the hands of Super Bowl champion Patriots, are 1 – 4 in those games.

Denver is known to be one of the toughest places in the league to play the road. To the Steelers it has been kind and they hope to become just the second team to reach the Super Bowl. The first to achieve this was the New England Patriots in 1985, after winning three playoff games on the road. They were then beaten by the Braves 46 – 10.

The Steelers have posted a 6-2 regular road record. They have won at Cincinnati and at Indianapolis. It is worthy of note that their four losses in recent title games have all been home games. They had a win against the Colts before losing to Dallas 27- 17 in XXX.

The Broncos are one win away from their seventh Super Bowl appearance and their last since they convincingly beat Atlanta 34- 19 in xxx111, their second consecutive title.