The Cincinnati Bengals had an early Christmas this year when Peyton Manning threw four interceptions during Monday’s 37-28 game at Paul Brown Stadium. The Steelers are coming off a 20-12 home win over Kansas City and it sets the stage for this week’s Sunday nighter – Winner takes the AFC North.
Pittsburgh rolls into this matchup riding a three-game SU/ATS win streak. Pittsburgh has climbed its way into seventh for overall league scoring (27 PPG) and they are fourth in home scoring average with 32.9 PPG. The only teams with more points at home so far this season are Green Bay, New England and Denver.
Last week marked the second consecutive game where the Steelers fell shy of their projected point total but the Steelers have had only four games all season where they finished with less than 20 points.
Week 2 at Baltimore: The Steelers scored six points on a short week following a close divisional win over Cleveland.
Next week: Pittsburgh won 37-19 at Carolina
Week 5 at Jacksonville: Scored only 17 points but it was still a SU/ATS win. With a divisional road game on-deck there was little need for more scoring.
Next week: Lost 31-10 at Cleveland
Week 6 at Cleveland: As stated above, Pittsburgh lost here by 21 points. The defense was exploited by the Browns’ run game for 158 yards on 38 carries. This was the worst overall game by the Steelers to date and since then, they have had six good games against the run with three bad ones (Texans, Jets, Saints). Note that of the three bad games, two were at home and they both went over the total by comfortable margins.
Week 10 at NY Jets: The Steelers were primed for a letdown here off back-to-back offensive outbursts at home.
Next week: Followed up with a 27-24 win at Tennessee on Monday Night Football.
The Bengals capitalized on Denver’s mistakes but they can’t expect the same generosity from Ben Roethlisberger. Andy Dalton will need to execute against this Steeler D but on a short week, Cinci’s defense will be hard pressed to hold off Pittsburgh the way they did Denver. The common total on this game is 48.
Take the Over