AFC Wild Card: Pittsburgh Steelers Favorites On The Road Against Cincinnati Bengals

Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

As arguably the most intriguing matchup in the first week of the NFL playoffs, the Pittsburgh Steelers will go on the road to face off against the division rival Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium in one of the two AFC Wild Card games this weekend.

Along with all the first-round playoff struggles, the Bengals have dealt with over the years, Cincinnati will try to beat their division rivals with a backup quarterback under center. As expected, veteran gunslinger Andy Dalton will miss Saturday’s game with AJ McCarron to shoulder the load, according to Coley Harvey of ESPN:

The Cincinnati Bengals have officially ruled quarterback Andy Dalton out for Saturday night’s wild-card round playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

With McCarron set to take the snaps in place of Dalton, Cincinnati will be the underdogs on Saturday. According to Sportsbook.ag, the Steelers are -3 point favorites as of Friday.

Although the Bengals are more than capable of pulling off the slight upset against the Steelers, Pittsburgh comes into this game with the experience both at the quarterback position and the coaching on the sidelines. Ben Roethlisberger will get the start with Mike Tomlin calling the shots and that alone is enough to have faith in Pittsburgh coming out on top in this showdown of AFC North rivals.

The Bengals will attempt to get their first win in the postseason since 1991. Cincinnati didn’t stand a chance against Andrew Luck’s Indianapolis Colts last year losing in convincing fashion, 26-10. This year may be more of the same with the Steelers the much more experienced squad and arguably the better all-around team heading into this AFC Wild Card game.