Monday Night Football shows up with what could be a decent game to wrap up Week 13 of the NFL season. The Pittsburgh Steelers (9-2) put their top seed in the AFC on the line against their AFC North rival, the Cincinnati Bengals (5-6) Monday night.
And, hey, the Bengals are even still alive in the AFC playoff race. Jon Gruden and Sean McDonough may not know what to do with themselves when covering an actual relevant NFL contest. You can see what happens by tuning into ESPN at 8:30 p.m. EST.
The Game: Pittsburgh Steelers at Cincinnati Bengals (+4.5)
O/U: 43.0
The History
The Steelers and Bengals have faced off 96 times with Pittsburgh holding a 61-35 advantage in the all time series.
Pittsburgh was won the last five match ups between the two teams, including a 29-14 victory earlier this season on October 22.
In addition to that, the Steelers have beaten Cincinnati eight out of their last nine games. The Bengals’ last victory over Pittsburgh was 16-10 on November 1, 2015. Andy Dalton out-dueled Ben Roethlisberger, going 23 of 38 for 231 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Roethlisberger was 28 of 45 for 262 yards, one touchdown and three picks.
PITTSBURGH STEELERS (9-2)
The Steelers have reeled off six consecutive wins since nearly shitting away the season with a 30-9 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Ben Roethlisberger openly questioned his own abilities and eagerness to continue his NFL career. Maybe he was just pulling a con on everybody.
In last week’s 31-28 victory over the Green Bay Packers, Roethlisberger was 33 of 45 for 351 yards, four touchdowns and two picks. He hit Antonio Brown 10 times for 169 yards and two touchdowns. Le’Veon Bell did a little bit of everything, rushing 20 times for 95 yards and catching 12 passes for 88 yards. Martavis Bryant made the most of his return to the offense, catching four passes for 40 yards and a touchdown.
On defense, the Steelers had four sacks and eight stops in the backfield. They played an undermanned Packers team way too close, as I expected. They gave up big plays and never sniffed a pick with a banged up defensive backfield. It won’t get any better this week as Joe Haden is still out with an injured leg. Tight end Vance McDonald will miss the game with an ankle. Inside linebacker Ryan Shazier hasn’t practiced all week, but he has no official injury designation.
JuJu Smith-Schuster has practiced, but they may not rush him back if Bryant is out of the doghouse. Even if head coach Mike Tomlin is still down on Bryant, the more weapons they can put on the field, the better.
CINCINNATI BENGALS (5-6)
The Bengals will be missing three players this week. Linebackers Vincent Rey and Nick Vigil will sit. Rey is out with a hamstring and Vigil has an ankle. Safety Shawn Williams has an injured hamstring too. Michael Johnson is questionable and didn’t practice Saturday. He did have some limited participation on Friday.
Cincy has won two straight to get back in the playoff hunt. Last week they took out the Cleveland Browns, 30-16, for whatever that was worth. If nothing else, they built up some good, offensive confidence and got in some solid reps.
Rookie Joe Mixon had his best game of the season, rushing 23 times for 114 yards and a touchdown. He added three catches for 51 yards. Andy Dalton protected the ball with no interceptions or fumbles. He was 18 of 28 for 214 yards and two touchdowns. He hit A.J. Green five times for 66 yards.
On defense, the Bengals sacked DeShone Kizer four times and got eight stops in the backfield. That all sounds OK, but they did surrender 16 points and 21 first downs. Cleveland was 6-of-15 on third downs and 2-of-3 on fourth downs and gained 405 yards of total offense.
The Pick
I’ve learned one thing, if nothing else about this NFL season. The Steelers will play down to their opponent. That means dog the whole way. What it doesn’t mean is that Cincinnati will actually win. Let’s not be crazy. Steelers 27, Bengals 24
This week
Straight up: 1-0
Against the spread: 1-0
Last week
Straight up: 11-5
Against the spread: 10-6
Season
Straight up: 104-72
Against the spread: 91-85
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