Team Form
The Steelers are riding a 3 game winning streak after defeating the Browns 23-9 this past Sunday and will enter this game as 5.5 point favorites on the road against Cincinnati. The Bengals have had their season derailed by the injury to franchise QB Joe Burrow losing 4 in a row leading into this game. Even with the addition of Joe Flacco the Bengals offense managed just 268 yards of total offense in their 27-18 loss to the Packers. The Bengals are 2-4 ATS with 3 of their games going over and the Steelers are 3-2 ATS with 3 of their overs hitting as well.
Team Rankings
The Steelers offense hasn’t been blowing teams away, but QB Aaron Rodgers has been getting the ball out faster than anyone in the league and ranks inside the top 10 in both completion % and QB rating. Their running game has left a lot to be desired averaging just 3.4 yards per rush ranking 30th in the NFL. Rodgers and the Steelers will face a Bengals defense that has been struggling against the pass to say the least, ranking second to last in both passing yards allowed and yards per completion. The Bengals have been surrendering a whopping 30.5 points per game, but the offense hasn’t helped them out at all. Their rushing attack has been nonexistent gaining just 56.7 rush yards per game currently the worst average in the league. Even with QB Joe Flacco the offense has lacked a downfield threat and they will face a Steelers team that is second best in the NFL at getting after the QB with 4 sacks per contest.
Reasoning
The Bengals are a dumpster fire right now and the addition of Joe Flacco has done little to extinguish the flames. They are terrible between the trenches and this Steelers team will sack Flacco often if that trend continues. I like the Steelers to cover the -5.5 point spread at Cincinnati as they have at least looked competent on both sides of the ball this season. I also like the total of 43.5 points to go over as Rodgers picks the Bengals defense apart and Flacco scrounges some garbage time points. Finally, as far as player props go I’m looking at Rodgers to get over 216.5 passing yards and Chase Brown to get over 15.5 receiving yards. Rodgers I’m targeting because of how poor the Bengals pass defense is and Brown because of a game script that will lead to Flacco and co. being forced to pass often.
The Bookie of Eli 
Leave a comment