Steelers Need Win over Bengals to Keep Pace with Patriots
Monday Night Football and an AFC North showdown concludes Week 13 of the NFL regular season when the Pittsburgh Steelers visit the Cincinnati Bengals. The current line has Pittsburgh favored by 4.5 points with the over/under point total on 43.
Entering this game, Pittsburgh on the season is 9-2 straight up and 6-5 against the spread. On the road, the Steelers are 5-1 SU and 3-3 ATS. Cincinnati on the season is 5-6 SU and 6-5 ATS. At home, the Bengals are 3-2 SU and 2-3 ATS.
Cincinnati has won two straight and still has hopes of making the postseason in the AFC. However, the Bengals will face a huge task on Monday when they meet their arch rivals the Steelers.
Cincinnati has beaten the Broncos and Browns in their last two games, but on Monday face the division leading Steelers who entering Week 13 were tied for the best record in the AFC with New England.
The Bengals entering the weekend were one game behind Buffalo and Baltimore the two sixth-place teams in the playoff race for the second and final wildcard berth.
Pittsburgh beat Cincinnati 29-14 during Week 7 and owns the tiebreaker with the Patriots for the best AFC record. Last week the Steelers rallied to beat Green Bay 31-28 for their sixth straight win. Pittsburgh has won 10 straight games in primetime and has defeated Cincinnati five straight times, and four straight on the road against the Bengals.
Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is 23-4 when playing in Ohio, his home state. Last week versus Green Bay Big Ben threw four touchdown passes, giving him eight over the last two games.
Two touchdown passes last week were to Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown, who had 169 yards receiving and leads the NFL in both receptions with 80 and yards receiving with 1,195.
Cincinnati has reached 30 points in scoring just twice all season and both times were against Cleveland. Rookie running back Joe Mixon rushed for 114 yards and one touchdown last week. Since losing to Pittsburgh Andy Dalton the Bengals signal caller has thrown nine touchdown passes and no interceptions.
Against the Spread
Bengals defensive tackle Geno Atkins has seven quarterback sacks in his past seven games at home.
Pittsburgh is 5-0-1 ATS in its past 6 games following a loss ATS.
Cincinnati is 4-9-1 ATS in its last 14 games against an opponent with a record above .500.
Prediction: Pittsburgh has not routed opponents this season, but finds a way to win and has covered 6 of 11 games. Lean here toward the Steelers.
