AFC Championship Game 2017: Updated Odds, Prop Bets for Steelers vs. Patriots

The Pittsburgh Steelers have won nine games in a row, yet when they go to New England Sunday for the AFC Championship Game, they find themselves as six-point underdogs against the Patriots.

New England has already beaten the Steelers once this year, but Pittsburgh did not have Ben Roethlisberger in the lineup for that Week 7 game. Now they do, and the Steelers appear to have a formidable offensive attack led by running back Le'Veon Bell and wideout Antonio Brown.

The Steelers also have one of the strongest offensive lines in the league, and that unit is playing at a high level. So why should the Steelers be getting that many points from the Patriots?

New England has played at a very high level in going 14-2 in the regular season and adding a victory in the divisional round against the Houston Texans.

However, the Patriots have rarely played against elite quarterbacks this year. The Patriots have won eight games in a row since they lost a home game to the Seattle Seahawks in Week 9. Since that matchup, the Patriots have faced quarterbacks such as Colin Kaepernick, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Jared Goff, Trevor Siemian and Brock Osweiler.

The only elite quarterback they have faced in that time is Joe Flacco of the Baltimore Ravens, who is one of the best deep throwers in the league.

Roethlisberger has two Super Bowl rings to his credit and has piloted the Steelers to their current winning streak, but he has not had the pristine type of year that quarterbacks like Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers and Matt Ryan have had.

Roethlisberger has thrown six touchdown passes and eight interceptions in recent weeks, and he has two scoring passes and three interceptions in the postseason. If Roethlisberger does not pick up his level of play against the No. 1-ranked scoring defense in the league, the Steelers will have little chance of beating the Patriots.

However, if Roethlisberger can avoid turnovers and get the ball to Brown while Bell has another strong running game, the Steelers may be able to overcome the favored Patriots.

Brady had a sensational regular season in which he threw 28 touchdown passes and just two interceptions, but he was somewhat off his game against the Texans. He threw two interceptions in that contest, and the Patriots didn't take full control until the fourth quarter.

OddsShark.com has listed the total in this game at 50.5 points, in addition to making the Patriots the favorites. We like the Steelers to not only cover the spread, we look for them to win this high-scoring matchup that goes over the total.

Gary Landers/Associated Press

Prop Bets

Postseason games are regularly accompanied by prop bets, and while there will be many more prior to the Super Bowl, there are a number of props available for AFC title game bettors.

One of the props available involves the first score in the game. Bettors who want to bet the first score will be a touchdown must lay $190 to win $100. Bettors who believe the first score will be a field goal or a safety can earn $165 on a $100 bet.

Another prop involves the longest touchdown in the game. A bettor who wants to bet that the longest touchdown will exceed 47.5 yards can wager $110 to win $100. The same odds are offered to those who want to wager that the longest touchdown will be less than 47.5 yards.

One other prop to consider is which team will score first. A $100 wager on the Steelers will return $130, while Patriot backers must risk $150 to win $100.

That last prop bet makes sense for Steelers backers. If the Patriots win the coin toss, head coach Bill Belichick will almost certainly choose to defer, and that means the Steelers will have the ball first. The Steelers will likely take the ball if they win the coin toss, although that's a bit harder to say with any certainty.

The suggestions here are that the first score will not be a touchdown and the Steelers will score first. The prop on the longest touchdown is one to avoid.