Who’s favored?

Mike Tomlin talked about the game as “fireworks,” so who would be favored in that Patriots-Steelers heavyweight matchup in two weeks at Heinz Field? And, subsequently, if they meet in the AFC championship?

We reached out to a Scott Cooley of Bookmaker.eu, a professional online gambling site that has a sports book. Cooley turned to his bookmakers to determine, based on where the Patriots and Steelers stand today, what the odds on that game might be.

Steelers fans might be surprised to know their team would be underdogs in all circumstances.

For the Dec. 17 game at Heinz Field, the Patriots would be favored by 3 points.

That would change for the AFC title game. If it’s in New England (and that would pretty much assume the Patriots won Dec. 17), the Steelers would be 61⁄ point underdogs.

If it were at Heinz Field (and that would pretty much assume the Steelers won that Dec. 17 game), the Patriots would be favored by 2 points.

Remember, these are just projections by Bookmaker.eu. As Cooley stated, “Things could always change because setting lines is all about ‘What have you done for me lately’ and the Pats are perceived to be the far superior team.”

New England also continues to be the favorite to win the Super Bowl.

In the latest futures from Bovada, another online betting site, the Patriots are 5-2 to win the Super Bowl, followed by the Philadelphia Eagles at 7-2 and the Steelers at 6-1. That makes New England more than twice as likely to win the Super Bowl as the Steelers, according to those odds.

Curiously, the Steelers’ odds became slightly longer after they eked out a sixth consecutive victory Sunday night, 31-28, against the Green Bay Packers.