Steelers
vs.
Bengals
Week 13
NFL Pick
12/4/17
By: Jason Green
Pittsburgh Steelers (9-2 SU 6-5 ATS) vs. Cincinnati Bengals (5-6 SU 6-5 ATS)
The Steelers are playing on Monday Night for the 2nd straight week and it is no shock they are the road favorite facing their AFC North foe in the Cincinnati Bengals. They have won six in a row and they are tied with the Patriots, who they host in a couple of weeks, for the best record in the AFC. Pittsburgh is balanced and Big Ben leads a legit offense and while the defense ranks 4th in the league in points against they did give up 28 points at home in their last Game to a Packers team without Aaron Rodgers.
At 5 dimes sportsbook the Steelers are the 5-point favorite with a total of 43.
Well, the Bengals have won two in a row, but those wins came against the reeling Broncos and winless Browns. Still, they are in the playoff race, but their post-season push will take a big hit if they lose this Monday Night match up. For the season the defense has been pretty good, but the offense has been the issue even though CiNCy has put up 50 points in their last two Games.
Earlier this season in Pittsburgh the Steelers beat the Bengals 29-14.
The Steelers are 16-3-2 ATS in their last 21 Games facing the Bengals in Cincinnati.
Last Monday night the Steelers beat the Green Bay Packers 31-28 where they nailed a 53-yard FG as time ran out to preserve the win. Pittsburgh out-GAined Green Bay 462 yards to 307 yards and the reason the Game was a close one is that they had three turnovers and did not force one. Ben Roethlisberger did pass for 351 yards with 4 TD, but also had 2 picks and no shock his main target was star WR Antonio Brown (169 yards 2 TD), who leads the NFL in receiving yards. Le’Veon Bell was a beast with 95 rushing yards and a TD and he also had 88 receiving yards and he leads the league in yards from scrimmage.
CiNCy ranks 5th in the league in pass D, but Bell has to be licking his chops since they only rank 28th in run D.
In their last Game the Bengals beat the winless Cleveland Browns 30-16. The Bengals were out-GAined 405 yards to 361 yards with no turnovers in the Game, but CiNCy still won by 2 TD. Andy Dalton had 214 passing yards with 2 TD and no INT and A. J Green led the way with 66 receiving yards. RB Joe Mixon rushed for 114 yards averaging a solid five yards per carry and he had a TD.
Pittsburgh ranks in the top six in the league in pass and run D, so Dalton and company have their work cut out for them.
The Steelers are 5-0-1 ATS in their last 6 Games after an ATS loss, 12-3 ATS in their last 15 December Games, and in their last 26 Games facing a team with a losing record the Under record is 20-6.
The Bengals are 4-9-1 ATS in their last 14 Games facing a team with a losing record, 5-1 ATS in their last 6 December Games, and in their last 7 home Games the Under record is 5-2.
Jason’s Pick: Sorry CiNCy your time is up in this Game, as the Steelers will run over them in this Game and really hurt their playoff chances. Pittsburgh will lay on the offense and play good D easily winning and covering the spread.