Steelers vs. Bengals Pick
Will it be a low-scoring affair on Sunday in Cincinnati when the Bengals host the Steelers at 1:00PM ET?
According to oddsmakers from online sports book BetDSI, the Bengals are 3-point home underdogs versus the Steelers this weekend while the over/under currently sits at 44 points. While the point spread hasn’t moved off that 3-point figure, the total opened at 45 before being bet down a full point to 44.
After losing four straight in the middle of the season, the Steelers have rebounded in a big way. After beating the Bills 27-20 in Buffalo last Sunday, Pittsburgh has now won four consecutive games to improve its record to 8-5. Even though the Ravens currently hold a tie-breaker over the Steelers by virtue of their win in Baltimore a few weeks back, the Steelers now control their own destiny in the AFC North. If they win out, they’ll also win the division.
At 5-7-1 the Bengals have nothing to play for over their final three weeks but clearly the players haven’t given up on head coach Marvin Lewis. After beating Philadelphia 32-14 two weeks ago, Cincinnati went to Cleveland last Sunday and thumped the Browns 23-10. They have covered the spread in back-to-back games as well, although they’re still just 5-8 against the number this season.
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OUR PREDICTION: The under is 4-1 in the last five meetings between these two teams and Sunday should be another low-scoring game. The under is 5-1 in the Bengals’ last six divisional games, is 4-1 in their last five games overall, and is 12-5 in their last 17 games against AFC opponents. The under is also 5-1 in the Steelers’ last six road games, is 7-2 in their last nine games overall, and is 23-8-1 in the last 32 divisional games. Neither of these teams has the same defense it had a year ago but both units are playing fairly well currently.
NFL WEEK 15 PREDICTION: STEELERS/BENGALS UNDER 44