Week 14- Thursday Night Special

So far this season, there have been 4 Thursday games (not counting the opener). In those games, the home team has won and covered in 3 of the 4. The only home team to lose was the Detroit Lions but I’m not counting CFL teams.

Also, Pittsburgh has beaten Cleveland 11 out of the last 12 times, winning the last six in a row, and more importantly to us degenerate gambler types, the Steelers covered in all those games.

Cleveland is probably starting Derek Anderson at quarterback. Raise you hand if you ever heard of Derek Anderson before last weekend.

Okay three people just raised their hand. One was Drew Carey. The second was Derek Anderson’s mom (but she still doesn’t understand exactly what he does for a living). And three was a guy who mistook him for Derek Anderson, the backup point guard for the Charlotte Bobcats.

Now granted, Pittsburgh is out of the playoff hunt. Bill Cowher is already borrowing Hines Ward’s truck to haul furniture to his new house in North Carolina. And they are so short handed at safety and wide receiver that Donnie Shell and John Stallworth have been spotted at the Steelers training facility.

In spite of all that, there are just too many things going in the Steelers favorite for them to screw it up. The biggest advantage will be a home crowd hopped up on Iron City Beer that will work them into a frenzy while at the same time dull their collective pain brought on by knowing the Pirates play ball in only four months.

So, take the Steelers –7. I feel so confident in this pick that I would be willing to bet all of your money on it.