Pittsburgh Steelers (11-2) vs. Cincinnati Bengals (2-10-1)
The suddenly struggling Pittsburgh Steelers look to turn things around when they square off against the toothless Cincinnati Bengals on Monday Night Football. The Steelers opened the season with 11 straight victories, but have dropped their last two, including Sunday’s loss to the Buffalo Bills, 26-15. Cincinnati has lost their fifth game in a row on Sunday, falling to the Dallas Cowboys, 30-7.
The Steelers are favored by 12.5 in this contest. The Steelers have dominated the Bengals of late, winning the last 10 meetings. That includes a November 15 win, 36-10. The Steelers have covered the spread in all but two of those games.
Bills Stampede Past Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers jumped out to a 7-0 lead over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, then watched Buffalo scored 23 unanswered points, as they defeated Pittsburgh, 26-15. In the battle of MVP candidates, Josh Allen outdueled Ben Roethlisberger, throwing for 238 yards and two TDs to Roethlisberger’s 187 yards and two TDs.Roethlisberger had been the front runner in the MVP race and still will garner serious consideration. He has thrown for 3,292 yards and 29 TDs against just nine interceptions. He has been the offense, as the loss of running back James Conner for the season has made the offense one-dimensional.
Head Coach Mike Tomlin is looking to turn things around on Monday. He still has the top-ranked defense, allowing 18.2 points per game. They have recorded 45 sacks, 17 interceptions, and eight fumble recoveries. Pittsburgh is averaging 26.9 ppg.
Cowboys Fire Way through Bengals
Call it Andy Dalton’s revenge. The former Bengals signal-caller threw for two touchdowns in leading the Dallas Cowboys past Cincinnati, 30-7. The loss was the fifth in a row for the Bengals and their eighth in the last nine.
Rookie Joe Burton is out for the season, so the QB duties fall on Brandon Allen, who has completed 65.5% of his passes with three TDs and two interceptions in three games. He suffered a leg injury against the Cowboys but is expected to be on the field for this game.
Like Pittsburgh, the Bengals are missing their leading ground gainer as well. Joe Mixon is out for the year with a foot injury, leaving Cincinnati with no ground game either. The Bengals do have a pair of big-time receivers in Tyler Boyd (78 catches, 840 yards, 4 TDs) and Tee Higgins (58, 778, 5).
Cincinnati is 30th in the NFL in points per game at 18.8 while allowing 26.0 per contest, 22nd overall.
Notable Trends
Cincinnati Bengals:
- 1-4 ATS in their last five games.
- 1-4 ATS in their last five home games when facing a team with a winning record on the road.
- 1-5 ATS in their last six games in December.
Pittsburgh Steelers:
- 6-2 ATS in their last eight games against AFC teams.
- 10-4 ATS in their last 14 games against AFC North Division opponents.
- 4-1 ATS in their last five games against teams with a losing record at home.
