It will be an AFC North clash in the AFC Wild Card Playoff as the Pittsburgh Steelers travel to play the Cincinnati Bengals. This game will feature the NFL’s second-leading receiver, Antonio Brown (1,834 yards, 10 TDs). It will begin Saturday, Jan 9 at 8:15 p.m. ET and can be seen on CBS.
The Bengals and Steelers last met in Week 14, when Pittsburgh beat Cincinnati 33-20. A.J. Green had a great outing in that game, totaling six catches for 132 yards and one TD. Heath Miller had a quality performance for Pittsburgh, registering 10 catches for 66 yards. DeAngelo Williams had a big day as well, contributing 76 yards and two TDs on 23 attempts.
Pittsburgh is a slight two-point favorite in this game and the Over/Under (O/U) is 46 points.
Heading into Week 18 of league action, the Bengals are 12-4 Straight Up (SU) and 12-3-1 Against The Spread (ATS). In the past five games, Cincinnati is 3-2 for both SU and ATS. The Bengals passing game will face below-average pass coverage. The Steelers currently rank 30th in the NFL with 271.9 passing yards allowed per game. Turning to the Bengals defense, a few key spots could be deciding factors this week. The Steelers will be matching up against a skilled Cincinnati run defense, which allowed 75.8 rushing yards over its last five matchups. One of the keys to the game will be if the Bengals can take advantage of the turnover-prone Steelers, who rank 30th in the league in turnovers with two per road game. A strong start could benefit Cincinnati, because the Steelers are one of the league’s worst at allowing points in fourth quarter road games. They’ve given up an average of 8.6 fourth-quarter points on the road this season.
Moving to the road team, the Steelers have a record of 8-5-3 ATS and 10-6 SU. In the previous five games, Pittsburgh has a record of 4-1 SU and 3-1-1 ATS. As of late, the Steelers have found success on offense. During the last five games, they averaged 31 PPG, above their 26.4 PPG season average. Pittsburgh has found a lot of success through the air. Its 287.4 passing yards per game ranks third in the NFL. The Pittsburgh run defense has given teams problems during the past five games as well. During that time, opponents have gained an average of 85.8 rushing yards against this intimidating unit. Penalties don’t happen often when the Steelers play. They average the third-fewest penalties in the NFL with 5.9 per game.
Predictions: SU Winner – Pit, ATS Winner – Cin, O/U – Over
Notes
Cincinnati is 12-3-1 ATS in its last 16 games.
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of Cincinnati’s last 10 games.
Cincinnati is 12-4 SU in its last 16 games.
Cincinnati is 7-2 SU in its last 9 games at home.
Cincinnati is 2-3-1 ATS in its last 6 games at home.
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Cincinnati’s last 9 games when playing Pittsburgh.
Cincinnati is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games when playing Pittsburgh.
Cincinnati is 2-12-1 ATS in its last 15 games when playing at home against Pittsburgh.
Cincinnati is 2-13 SU in its last 15 games when playing at home against Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh is 8-3 SU when leading at the start of the fourth quarter this season. Cincinnati is 10-2 SU when leading at the end of the third quarter.
Cincinnati is an even 2-2 SU in games where it wins the turnover battle, yet 9-1 SU when losing the turnover battle.
The Cincinnati passing attack is ranked 15th in the league, while the Pittsburgh pass defense is only ranked 30th. The Steelers’ passing game is ranked third, compared to the 20th-ranked pass defense of the Bengals.
