where to buy cheap NFL jerseys

How to choose the correct size NHL Jersey?

It's definitely not easy to choose what size NHL jersey you should order when purchasing a jersey online.

 It's especially if you've never bought a jersey before or if you're buying the jersey for someone else.

The first thing you need to be aware of is that whether you're buying from us or someone else, it's usually not possible to return a jersey once ordered. That's what makes the decision so important.

The easiest way to choose the right size would be to go to a local store, try different jerseys and choose the size that fits best.

If you're buying the jersey as a gift or if you don't want to bother that's not an ideal solution. An alternative solution would be to look at forums online and a lot of people say their height and weight along with the jersey size they wear. And the quickest and most efficient way is probably to take a look at our NHL jerseys size chart based on height and weight (See below).

Tom Brady's jersey tops NFL sales through first two weeks of season

^{Darren Rovell, ESPN.com Sports Business reporter}

Despite an offseason filled with Deflategate controversy, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady continues to be the best-selling player in the league.

Through the first two weeks of the season, Brady's No. 12 sits at the top of the list of best-selling jerseys on the league's official website.

Brady also was the best-selling player among all licensed merchandise from March 1 to May 31, according to a list revealed by the NFL Players Association.

Patriots spokesman Stacey James said sales of Brady merchandise at the Patriots Pro Shop this offseason were "uncharacteristically high."

That Brady is No. 1 is impressive given that the team's jersey hasn't changed since Brady entered the league. The Patriots' last main jersey change came in 2000, other than the switch of manufacturers from Reebok to Nike and a font change on the logo below the neck this year.

And it's not just jerseys.

On Sept. 10, Under Armour started selling the black shirt worn by Brady in its new commercial. The shirt has the number 199 in black, which is the number of the overall pick that Brady was selected with in the 2000 NFL draft. The shirt sold out in hours and the company, which Brady endorses, is now taking preorders for the next batch.

Rounding out the top five in NFL jersey sales for the first two weeks of the regular season on NFLShop.com are Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant, New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski and San Francisco 49ers running back and kick returner Jarryd Hayne, with 70 percent of sales coming from Australia, where Hayne played rugby.

The Patriots have three players (Julian Edelman is No. 16) in the top 25, as do the Seattle Seahawks (Russell Wilson, Marshawn Lynch, 12th Fan) and the San Francisco 49ers (Hayne, Colin Kaepernick and NaVorro Bowman).

What is a typical daily diet for an NBA player during the season?

My diet consists of healthy carbs, proteins, veggies and fruits.  For carbs I like to eat pasta, couscous, and rice.  All the meats I eat have to be lean and healthy like fish, chicken, and steak. Every once in a while I'll treat myself to a very unhealthy meal which usually consists of going to multiple fast food places in one night.  

My biggest no-no's are fried food, candy, and soda.  I'm a big snacker so it's hard to give up my normal snacking habits.  If I could pick, I would always drink soda, eat gummy candies and devour huge bags of chips.  My snacking habits have been changed to yogurt, trail mix, granola and veggie platters...it's the worst.
Jeremy Lin
Written Oct 7, 2013

2016 NFL Playoffs: Did DeSean Jackson cost the Redskins the playoff game against Green Bay?

The play above that triggered this knee-jerk article happened with 5 minutes left in the first quarter. Immediately following this play, after the review the Redskins failed to run, got a penalty and failed to get it in.

A good team would have gotten it in. DeSean did what he did, he got the ball down the field, he didn't fumble.

The Redskins were still leading 5-0 at that point. They went on to score a touchdown and miss the extra point, giving them an 11-0 lead.

They lost the lead and regained it in the third quarter to make it 18-17. By that time, Rogers was having fun and the defense was toast. The offense was no longer daring, it was too cautious. 

The Redskins had other opportunities to put this game away. A 16-0 lead would have been nice, but even then it wouldn't have mattered considering the defense couldn't get Green Bay off the field and the offense was toothless after that first drive in the second half.  Green Bay scored on every drive in the second half. It was 35-7 Green Bay after they scored their first points. 

You can't win like that. The defense played too cautious down the stretch, the offense couldn't get it done. The Redskins were happy to be there.

They grew a lot this season, and I'm excited to see what McCloughan does in the offseason. Hopefully they can get back to the playoffs.

In any case, no, it was a team failing. It wouldn't have made a difference if DeSean had gotten in there or not. It could have helped, but more was needed than just that for the game to tilt to the burgundy and gold.

Bart Loews

Written Jan 12

Who had a better career: Wayne Gretzky or Michael Jordan?

It's Gretzky, and it is not particularly close.

Here are #99's stats, which are essentially incomprehensibly amazing: 
http://www.hockey-reference.com/...

Everyone knows he has over 1,000 more points than anyone in hockey history; has more assists than anyone else has total points; and he's also the all-time goal scoring leader. Other that that, he wasn't very good.

Gretzky has the seven top single season assist marks in NHL history (and 11 of the top 13); the top four overall single season scoring records in NHL history (and six of the top seven); and oh by the way, the two best goal-scoring seasons in NHL history (and four of the top 10).  He is by far the all-time playoff scoring leader in goals, assists and points.

Like Jordan he played for the title six times.  Gretzky won four to Jordan's six, but context matters here.  The losses came to the Islanders dynasty that won 17 straight playoff series (a loss Gretzky and the Oilers avenged the next year); the other loss came as captain of the L.A. Kings, a team with utterly no success in its history before Gretzky was traded there and took a terrible team almost all the way to the title.  Had Gretzky not been traded, there is not a hockey fan alive you believes he would not have won at least six or seven titles, and possibly as many as ten of them.

You think MJ dominated the playoffs? Wayne Gretzky is the NHL's all-time leader in playoff points (382), a ridiculous 87 more than runner up Mark Messier; assists (260), a ridiculous 74 more than Messier, and 121 more than any other player in the rest of field; and goals (122), again 13 more than Messier, and 56 more than Mario Lemieux, just for some context.  Mario Lemieux was an absolute Superstar, easily one of the best five players of All-Time, and maybe the second best (I'd have him at #3, behind Orr).  Mario scored barely half as many playoff goals as Gretzky.  Think about that.

Gretzky is basically 22.8% as a scorer above any other player in NHL Playoff History.  That would be like someone smacking 91 home runs next season in MLB, or scoring, or scoring 40 ppg in the NBA Playoffs for a career.

Context is everything.  Consider the following:

• In 1979, Gretzky enters the NHL on a team, Edmonton, that is coming from the World Hockey Association merger.  He's not joining an established team.  He IS the team.  No one seriously expects the Oilers to compete with the NHL; everyone assumes they will be terrible.

• In that 1979-80 season, as an 19 year old rookie, Gretzky led the NHL in total scoring and assists.  He went 51-86-137 and a ridiculous +51.  He was the league MVP. As a rookie.  Process that.
• As a 20 year old, Gretzky shattered the NHL's single season scoring record, going 55-109-164 +60.  He broke the mark by 12 points, or 8% above the best single-season is record hockey history.  He set the single-season record for assists this year (a record he would subsequently break eight more times).  Again, he was the league MVP.  This would be a down season for Gretzky when you see what he did next.
• As a 21 year old, Gretzky smashed his own record.  By 48 points.  He put up a 92 goal (still the record), 120 assist, 212 point barrage.  In winning his third MVP, Gretzky beat the pre-Gretzky scoring record by 60 points, or about 40%. 
  
  And here we must pause.  Let's ballpark this.  Imagine someone:
• Batting .580 next year, or hitting 100 home runs;
• Or an NBA player averaging 70 points per game (breaking Wilt's 50.4 points per game record);
• Or an NFL quarterback throwing for 7,500 yards and 70 TDs; imagine a running back running for almost 3,000 yards. 
• That's what Gretzky did by age 21, more or less.  That's how much he smashed the previous standard.
  
  And then he got better.
  
• From age 22-25, Gretzky proved it was no fluke, posting 196, 205, 208 and 215 point seasons.  The last two of those years he won his first titles in 1984-85 and 1985-86.
• In 1983, Gretzky led the NHL in goals (71) , assists (125), points (196).. .  Hall of Famer Peter Stastny was second in scoring..with 124 points, 72 back of Wayne.
• In 1984, Gretzky scored 87 goals.  Michel Goulet was second.. with 56.  Gretzky added 118 assists.. Paul Coffey was second .. with 86.  And Gretzky put up 205  Coffey coming in second, at 126, just 79 behind Wayne.
• In 1985, Gretzky scored a league leading 73 goals (Kurri at 71 was second); put up 135 assists (Coffey's 84 was second, 51 behind) and scored a stunning 208 points, 73 ahead of Kurri's 135, which ranked second.  Gretzky would have won the scoring title (or tied for it) had he scored zero goals -- except he also happened to lead the league in goals.  A pretty good played named Mario Lemieux was a rookie this year -- he scored 100 points and won Rookie of the Year Honors.  Double that, and you are still eight points shy of Gretzky.
• In 1986, Gretzky scored only 52 goals, sixth in the NHL.  Of course, he also scored 163 assists, the best single-season assist record in NHL history (49 more than any player not named Gretzky has ever put up in a season).  And Gretzky set the all-time points record with 215 points.
• The next two years, he won two more Stanley Cup titles, for a total of four.

Wayne Gretzky is easily the most dominant athlete of my lifetime in a team sport. When you win nine MVP Awards, you are The Man.

It is in no way disrespectful to Michael Jordan to say he isn't the Great One in this conversation.

John DeMarchi
Updated Mar 6, 2012

Carolina Panthers #1 Cam Newton Kids WHite NFL jerseys from wonderleisure

What is an NFL player's routine between Sunday games?

  Monday is the day players come in for treatment for any injuries/soreness suffered in the game. They go over film of the game they just played. Monday is when they meet in their respective groups to see what went right/wrong, and what happened that they weren't expecting. The training room is open to all. (Weightlifting and medical help is available)

Their normal day off is Tuesday. This is mandated in the collective bargaining agreement.HOWEVER, every QB, especially starting QBs, will show up on this day. They will spend the day looking at film of the upcoming opponents' defense. Injured players are required to report for treatment. The coaching staff will spend the day developing a game plan for the up coming opponent.

Wednesday is the day the coaches implement to game plan specifically for the up coming opponent. In the early morning coaches meeting, they will tweak the game plan, if needed. By mid-morning (9:30-10:00), the players will go to their position meetings and start reviewing the game plan. By 11:30-noon, they will be on the practice field going through the plays that will be used. This will be a low-contact practice. Any questions/issues with the running of certain plays will be addressed at this time. Wednesday is also the day when media, from the opponents city, gets to speak with the head coach and one player (usually the QB).

The schedule is pretty much the same on Thursday, except there is usually an emphasis placed on Red Zone plays. What is expected from the team and their opponent is again stressed.

Friday is another practice with the game plan. The intensity of the practice is brought down a notch. At this point, the players are just getting comfortable with the plays they will be using.

Saturday is a walk-through of the plays they expect to use.

Of course, there are multiple meetings every day. There are team meetings, run by the head coach, and position meetings, run by their position coach. Not all teams/coaches will follow this exact schedule, but it is pretty close to normal.

Jay Stark

Written Mon 

Atlanta Falcons #11 Julio Jones kids red NFL Jersey from wonderleisure

How do NFL players pick their jersey number?

NFL players are assigned a number when they first report to a team. There are position numbers in high school and college that cannot be worn in the NFL,  playing the same position. If they wish to have a different number, they have two options.

#1) Ask for the number, if it is unassigned.

#2) Buy it from the player who already has it.  You can be the #1 draft pick and still cannot take away the number from the bench-warmer, if he had the number first.

All of this is presuming that it is an eligible number for your position, and it is not retired. Most players go through high school and college with the same number, and would like to continue wearing it. Unfortunately, high school and college allows more flexibility in the numbers that players wear. Sometimes, the result is that the number the player grew up with is not available for his position in the NFL.

Thanks for asking, Raymond. I bet this caught a lot of people unaware.

Jay Stark

Written Jan 12

What is the term of the machine that goes over the ice on hockey rinks? What does it do?

The techincal term for the machine is an Ice resurfacer. Colloquially, it's known as a Zamboni machine named after it's creator, Frank Zamboni.

It was invented in 1947 in Paramount, California.

Ice skating works by the blades of the ice skates cutting and melting the ice as they glide along the ice. Sudden stops also help shave off the ice.

Ice surface scratched up

When the surface is scratched up, it makes the skates unpredictable and increases the risks of injury.

Prior to the machine's invention, teams of people had to go out onto the ice during breaks and scrape the surface, squeegee the shavings, and finally wash the surface.

Frank Zamboni came up with a machine that did it all at once.

Bart Loews

Written Jan 8

Why do football players wear rubber bands around their biceps?

These items are called bicep bands. They are made of a variety of materials: some are nylon, some are cotton, some are synthetic blends, etc. 

Bicep bands are used to catch and absorb sweat on the arms. They prevent the sweat on the shoulders and upper arms from sliding down to the forearm and hands. It's no different than how a head band prevents sweat from dripping down the forehead and getting into the eyes. There is some debate about how well they work, but that's what they are designed for. 

When bicep bands originally came out, there were some wild claims that they served a medical function of preventing tendinitis, tendinosis, and various muscle injuries. Those claims have since been refuted. 

There is also an obvious cosmetic function. A properly placed bicep band can make one's arms look bigger. And a band with the right color can match any uniform quite nicely. 

Aaron Ellis

Written Oct 10, 2012

Which NBA players had the best head-to-head records against Michael Jordan?

So, I had to completely redo all of this because there was a bug in the script I wrote to do this. H/T to Chris McAree for doing some digging. Also note that the records are for regular season games only.


Bill Laimbeer and Isiah Thomas have the most wins against Michael Jordan over the course of his career, with 24 wins apiece. Vinnie Johnson comes in just a shade behind them with 23, while Joe Dumars, Charles Barkley, and Dennis Rodman each have 21.

Since all of the aforementioned players only played against Bulls-era Jordan, they're also the players that have the most wins against Jordan during that stretch. In fact, you have to go all the way down to the player with the 15th most wins against Jordan, Reggie Miller, to find a player that played against Jordan during his run with the Wizards.

Kieth Van Horn has the most wins, six, against Wizards-era Jordan. Another 18 players have five wins apiece, and they're all from three teams: the 76ers (including Allen Iverson), the Pistons (including Ben Wallace and Cliff Robinson), and the Nets (including Jason Kidd, Kenyon Martin, and Richard Jefferson).

Career-journeyman James Edwards posts the best winning percentage against Jordan over the course of his career with a .636 mark over 22 games.[1] Vinnie Johnson (.621 over 37 games) and Dennis Johnson (.619 over 21 games) follow close behind. Since none of these players played against Jordan during his Wizards run, they also have the same records against Jordan when only looking at his time with the Bulls.[2]

A whole host of players (Eric Snow, Greg Buckner, Anthony Peeler, Kevin Garnett, Kendall Gill, John Salmons, and Rasho Nesterovic) never lost to Jordan when he was playing for the Wizards.[3]

Fun Facts:

• Players that have never lost to Michael Jordan include: Scottie Pippen, Dirk Nowitzki Marc Jackson, Wally Szczerbiak, Lionel Hollins, Mitch Kupchak, and the immortal Efthimios Rentzia.
• In total, 71 players have never lost to Michael Jordan.
• Larry Bird was 17-11 against Jordan. Magic Johnson was only 6-7.
• Bryon Russell was 4-3 against Jordan over his career.
• On a similar note, John Stockton went 14-11 while Karl Malone went 12-11.
• All told, 360 players were .500 or better against Michael Jordan over the course of his career. 840 players were worse than .500.
• Players that have never beaten Michael Jordan include: Manu Ginobili, Pooh Richardson, Bobby Hurley, Luc Longley, Carlos Boozer, God Shamgod, Bill Wennington, Lamar Odom, and Elton Brand.
• Records of futility: Andrew Lang (0-16), Rumeal Robinson (0-13), Sherman Douglas (0-27), Grant Long (2-26), Rex Chapman and Rony Seikaly (2-21), and Michael Cage (2-28).
• Michael Jordan went 122-102 against players who are currently head coaches in the NBA.

[1] Minimum qualifications: 13 games played.

[2] Shout-out to Bobby Jones, though, for posting a 6-0 record against Bulls-era Jordan.

[3] Minimum qualifications: 4 games played. Snow and Buckner both went 5-0, the rest all were 4-0.
William Petroff
Updated Nov 13 

Why did the sports card collection market collapse?

As a collector, I have asked myself this question many times over the last several years and I have concluded that there are several reasons for the card industry to tank. 

Too many collectors trying to make big money. 

Too many card companies issuing cards.

Too few genuine stars in sports worthy of investing money in their cards. People got tired of being burned by the "next Michael Jordan"... Penny? Grant Hill? Harold Minor?

With the growing salaries of pro sports players, the shrinking salaries of Americans left card buyers with a bitter taste when it came to giving even more money to players, most stopped investing.

EBay killed the card shop industry, instead of ever paying anything even close to Beckett value of a card, people can purchase ultra rare insert cards for a fraction of their value. This eliminated the need to "bust packs" in search of rare cards.

The beauty of the older cards were that nobody was special, a card was just a card. Today, you have a thousand different types of cards, subsets, foil, hologram, relic inserts, item inserts, signature cards, numbered issues, proof prints, the list is almost endless... All this did was make the normal card series completely worthless. At the same time, it caused even the unique cards to also become worthless since every single rookie had to get a signed, ball insert, jersey insert, sweat vial, DNA swatch card haha... when so few panned out.

Today, anyone with photoshop can create one of a kind, stunning works of art featuring their favorite athletes, we have YouTube now, we have websites, fan sites, so much information now, that reading the backs of cards for info is virtually worthless as a source of information. 

The days of cards being worth much are over, it was a great thing while it lasted, simply because people made thousands off of worthless cardboard. Once people set out making priceless cardboard in the hopes of making even more money, they ruined the market.
Chris Rodriguez
Written Feb 21, 2012

Why was the name "National Hockey League" given to a league that always had teams in two different countries?

The first NHL season in 1917–18 was contested between 4 teams, all of which were located in Canada:

Montreal Canadiens
Montreal Wanderers
Toronto Hockey Club (now the Toronto Maple Leafs)
Ottawa Senators (original 1883-1935 franchise)

So there was not always teams in 2 countries.

The term "Original Six" is probably the reason for the perception that there were always both American and Canadian teams in the NHL. There were many now defunct teams in the NHL before the Original Six (Toronto, Montreal, New York, Boston, Chicago and Detroit). 

The term Original Six is actually referring to the 6 "original" teams in the league prior to the 1967 expansion when the league added 6 additional teams. They were not the 6 first teams in the league.
Weibo Chen
Written Dec 5, 2013 

Cristiano Ronaldo had very bad teeth, and later he had a very good dentist. I looked at his pictures which I am sharing with you, while I explain what might have been his treatment like:

In the pictures above, the kind of smile and teeth exposure of the upper front teeth is similar. You can see that one tooth (younger Ronaldo: fourth tooth from his right) seems to be missing. It is placed behind his arch of teeth, because there was no place for it to erupt in the right place. You can also see that his teeth seem a little crooked and he used to have a more gummy smile.

In these pictures you can see how the shape of his teeth have changed.

In these pictures, you can make out that he has a considerable gummy smile in the earlier picture. His picture on the right shows how symmetrical his smile is now. You can also observe the shape and color of his teeth, and the missing tooth is also visible now

In these pictures there is a comparison of his teeth when his treatment had just begun. You can see that his teeth are wired and the gap in his teeth is getting wider and the which did not erupt in its place on his upper right side can be seen underneath the arch of his teeth.

Here, you can see that the gap of the missing tooth is even more pronounced than the previous one.

Will the Dallas Cowboys make it to the playoffs this year?

At the rate the Redskins are imploding and the lack of an intimidating Giants defense, very likely.  They need to establish a running game and prove that it was their line that producing one of the most successful running games last season and not DeMarco Murray. In addition, with Dez Bryant out the at least 4 weeks, possibly 8, a finished Orlando Scandrick, and an absent Greg Hardy for the next 3 games, that leaves you with very little time to establish Terrance Williams as a go to Receiver and bring your defense up to par against some very rough opponents.. Even with Jason Witten as an ageless endzone threat, 3 key divisional matchups as well as the likes of the Seahawks and the Patriots will definitely test the Cowboys. If Romo manages to carry the team through the next couple of weeks, you may make it farther than the first round of playoffs as a Wild Card this year.
Isaac Nodes
Written Sep 19

Its looking to be another great week of the NFL playoffs. This week features four teams that will be searching for redemption after embarrassing losses in recent meetings. Here is a preview and my predictions for each game.

(5) Kansas City Chiefs @ (2) New England Patriots, Saturday Janurary 16th

The first game of the weekend features one team that has won 11 straight in the Kansas City Chiefs and one team that somewhat stumbled into the playoffs in the New England Patriots. This will no doubt be an interesting game. Nobody seems to know forsure how good the Chiefs are, with a QB who is a game manager and a banged up supporting cast (no Jamal Charles and Maclin is listed as questionable with a high ankle sprain) they certainly seem vulnerable. The Patriots however have the injury bug as well. Rob Gronkowski is listed as questionable and had to get an injection in his knee earlier this week which is never a good sign along Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola who are also listed as questionable.

The Patriots will no doubt be looking for revenge in this game as the last time these two teams met the Chiefs embarrased the Patriots in a 41–14 victory at Arrowhead. Its intersting to note that in this blowout game, the Chiefs did not have Maclin (he was signed as a free agent this offseason) and Jamal Charles was not the Chiefs leading rusher in the game. Knile Davis who will be playing on Saturday lead the Chiefs rushing attack with 107 yards on 16 carries, New England as a team had just 75 yards on the ground. Another interesting thing from that game is that Gronk and Edelman combined for just 54 yards on 6 catches, this shows just how stout that Chiefs defense is. I like the way the Chiefs defense matches up with the Patriot offense, with Eric Berry in the middle and two giant corners outside (Marcus Peters who is 6'3" and Sean Smith who is 6'0") they can sufficate the smaller New England recievers and even match up with Gronk. It is still hard to imagine that Tom Brady in the playoffs at home will be shut down on offense so I think that the key will be the Chiefs offense and if they will be able to score on a solid New England defense lead by Bill Belichick. If the Chiefs get the running game established early and get some easy completions off play action I think they will win this game.

Kansas City 28 New England 24

(5) Green Bay Packers @ (2) Arizona Cardinals, Saturday January 16th

The second game of the Saturday games is a rematch of a week 16 mathup that saw the Cardinals embarrass the visiting Packers 38–8. This game is going to come down to the packers offensive not only giving Eddie Lacy (60 yards rushing week 16) a chance to gash the Cardinal defense as well as give Aaron Rogers time to throw down the field. Another key to this matchup will be whether or not the Packers receivers will be able to get open against one of the best secondaries in the NFL. On the other side of the ball the key will be whether or not Carson Palmer can continue his amazing year. Palmer has only reached the playoffs twice thus far in his career and has not won a single playoff game (injured in first game against the Steelers in 2005). This lack of playoff success doesn’t mean much to me, this is a new year and a new team and the Cardinal offense has been nothing short of dynamic all year. If this game was in Green Bay I would give the Packers a shot but I don’t see this team with no running game, a beat up receiving corps and offensive line, along with an average defense being able to get past this tough challenge.

Arizona 30 Green Bay 20

(6) Seattle Seahawks @ (1) Carolina Panthers, Sunday Janurary 17th

The first game on Sunday features two teams that will seemingly be playing eachother in playoffs games in the years to come and what I think could be a budding rivalry between two teams that love to talk as much as they love to play. In the previous matchup this year Cam Newton threw to a wide open Greg Olsen for a game winning Touchdown with 30 seconds left. This seemed to be a theme in a season in which the vaunted Seahawk defense gave up 5 (should have been 6 if Blair Walsh hit a 27 yard field goal) fourth quarter leads all ending up in losses. For Carolina the comeback victory was no surprise either Cam Newton lead the NFL in most 4th quarter comebacks this season. Some good news for Seattle they will be getting Marshawn Lynch back this week but I’m not so sure he will be vary effective, this is his first week back after having abdomen surgery on November 25th and in the last meeting he only managed 54 yards on 17 attempts against a very stout Carolina defense. I do not any running backs on either side being able to have a big day on the ground but with two mobile quarterbacks the rushing yards might be able to come off some read option plays. This game to me will be decided by key turnovers and good special team play. Each team has a reliable place kicker and returners (Ted Ginn and Tyler Lockette) that can make big plays. The game will be very close but I see the experiance of Seattle paying off in this game, I beleive that they will be the ones making the big plays down the stretch to pull off a win.

Seattle 27 Carolina 24

(6) Pittsburgh Steelers @ (1) Denver Broncos, Sunday Janurary 17th

The final game of the Divisional round will be a week 15 rematch between the Steelers and Broncos. The story of the game has to start with the banged up Steelers, Antonio Brown has been ruled out with a concussion and DeAngelo Williams is out with an ankle injury. If that news isn’t enough of a blow to the best offense in the league Big Ben is dealing with a torn ligament in his shoulder. You might think like everybody else that the Steelers have no chance, but to me although unlikely I do believe that the Steelers can win this game and here is how. All of the pressure has to be on the Broncos, they are at home and almost completely healthy coming off a much needed first round bye. If they somehow loose this game it will be either because Big Ben has an unusually amazing performance or because Peyton Manning has a terrible game. The Steelers come into the game with the 30th ranked defense against the pass (worst in franchise history) however the defense is opportunistic and can create turnovers when needed as we saw last week when middle linebacker ripped the ball from running back Jeremy Hill’s hands late in the 4th quarter. If the Steelers can create some turnovers against Peyton Manning who has thrown 17 INT to just 9 TD this season they may have chance. Manning also is 0–5 in games that are played in conditions colder than 40 degrees which favors the Steelers. If the Steelers can somehow jump out to an early lead it may put the Broncos on their heels a bit which could leave the door open for the Steelers. Everybody is giving the Steelers no chance in this one which is a situation the Steelers seem to thrive on and Peyton Manning historically has not especially late in his career and in the playoffs. It will be interesting to see if Manning can get his feet back under him against by far the worst pass defense he will see the rest of the season. Because this is a playoff game make no mistake the Steelers are going to give everything they have and with one of the best coaches in the NFL they have a chance. If Ben and Brown were healthy I would pick them to win but because of injury I have to give the Broncos the slight edge in this close game.

Written Jan 16 From quora