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Game Overview
Cincinnati’s 34-13 romp over Philadelphia last Thursday night as a 4.5-point road favorite was its fifth win in its last six games. It is now 8-6 straight-up (7-6-1 against the spread) and just one game in back of Baltimore in the AFC North Division title race. The Bengals are 5-2 both SU and ATS on the road this season and the total has stayed UNDER in five of their last six games.

The first time Cincinnati played the Steelers this season it really struggled on offense with less than 200 total yards. Andy Dalton completed just 50 percent of his passed for 105 yards in the 24-17 loss. If the Bengals are going to have any shot at knocking-off Pittsburgh on the road this time around it will need this unit to play up to its ranking as the ninth-highest scoring team in the league. Cincinnati’s defense has been able to elevate its game down the stretch and is now ranked sixth in the NFL in total yards allowed and 10th in points allowed.

It is do or die for Pittsburgh in this matchup after last Sunday’s 27-24 overtime loss to Dallas dropped it to 7-7 SU on the year. The Steelers failed to cover as one-point road underdogs to fall to 5-8-1 ATS. The total has now gone OVER in their last four games. Fortunately, Pittsburgh returns to the friendly confines of Heinz Field where it is 4-2 both SU and ATS this season.

Ben Roethlisberger is back in the starting lineup after missing a few games with a broken rib, but he is still searching for the form that carried this team to three Super Bowls in the past seven seasons. If he cannot quickly find it, the Steelers will not even have a shot at trying to get there this year. All season long this team has been battling injuries on both sides of the ball, but comes into this matchup as healthy as it has been in quite awhile, so it has little excuse not to win this game.

Prediction:

The Bengals come into this showdown with the momentum on their side, but face a desperate Steelers team that has made a habit over the years of winning the games it needed to the most. This should be another knock-down, dragged-out battle between these two division rivals and while Pittsburgh gets the win it needs to stay alive in the AFC playoff race, stick with Cincinnati to cover with the four points. Pittsburgh 24 Cincinnati 23