In the final week of the 2018 regular season, the Cincinnati Bengals (+14) are gearing up to take on the Pittsburgh Steelers (-14) at Heinz Field. This AFC North game starts at 4:25 p.m. ET and CBS is scheduled to broadcast the action.
Week 17 Betting Preview: Cincinnati Bengals vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
In this Sunday AFC game, Pittsburgh is projected as the heavy favorite and is currently giving up 14 points. The Bengals are also receiving +550 moneyline odds while the Steelers are -925. Oddsmakers have placed the over/under (O/U) at 48 points, and if one side can create a bunch of points early, it would likely generate a worthy live betting scenario.
The line opened at -15. The game’s O/U hasn’t moved since it opened at 48.
The Bengals are down 2.1 units so far and 8-7 against the spread (ATS). The team has posted an O/U record of 9-5-1.
The Steelers are down 3.6 units for moneyline bettors this season. They’re 8-6-1 ATS and have an O/U record of 8-7.
The Bengals are 6-9 straight up (SU), including 1-4 SU against AFC North opponents. The Steelers are 8-6-1 SU overall and 3-1 SU versus divisional foes.
The Bengals are reeling from a 26-18 defeat to Cleveland in Week 16 where their D allowed the Browns to pass for 347 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for 146 yards. Nick Chubb logged a good day for the Browns in that one with 112 rushing yards on 19 attempts. On the offensive side of the ball, Jeff Driskel completed 13 passes for only 133 yards and two touchdowns. Joe Mixon (68 yards on 17 rush attempts) led the running attack. C.J. Uzomah (four receptions, 49 yards, one TD) and Alex Erickson (two catches, 35 yards) shared the receiving duties in the defeat.
Pittsburgh narrowly lost 31-28 to New Orleans in Week 16. The defensive secondary allowed the Saints to air it out for 326 yards. Michael Thomas had a solid outing in the win for New Orleans, recording 109 yards on 11 catches. For Pittsburgh, Ben Roethlisberger completed 33-of-50 passes for 380 yards and three touchdowns. Jaylen Samuels (53 yards on 12 rush attempts) handled the running game as Antonio Brown (14 receptions, 185 yards, two TDs) and JuJu Smith-Schuster (11 catches, 115 yards) led the receiving corps in the loss.
Cincinnati has run the ball on 39.7 percent of its offensive possessions this year while Pittsburgh has a rush percentage of 33.5 percent. The Bengals have produced 103.8 rush yards/game (including 89.8 per game against North opponents) and have 13 scores on the ground this year. The Steelers are putting up 92.0 rushing yards per game (114.2 in conference) and have 16 total rush TDs.
The Bengals offense has averaged 231.6 yards through the air overall (218.6 per game against conference opposition) and has 27 passing scores so far. The Steelers have produced 325.8 pass yards per game (305 in the AFC) and have 34 total pass TDs.
Cincinnati has allowed opponents to run for an average of 142.6 yards and pass for 286.7 yards per game. The Pittsburgh D has allowed 263.3 yards per game to opposing passers and 94.2 yards per game on the ground. The Steelers are giving up an adjusted net yards per pass attempt (ANY/A) of only 6.45 to opponents, while the Bengals have allowed a 7.45 ANY/A.
Offensively, Driskel is up to 778 passing yards this season. The signal-caller has completed 66 percent of his 119 attempts with five passing scores and only one interception. Driskel has a 5.71 adjusted net yards per pass attempt, including 4.38 over the last two outings.
Look for a balanced attack offensively from Cincinnati in this one. Joe Mixon (934 rushing yards, six rush TDs, one receiving touchdown on the year), C.J. Uzomah (406 receiving yards, three receiving TDs) and Alex Erickson (81 receiving yards) have all played key roles of late.
Ben Roethlisberger has connected on 399-of-596 passes for 4,607 yards, 31 TDs and 13 INTs for Pittsburgh. His ANY/A sits at 7.30 for the year and 6.65 over his last two games.
As a group, Jaylen Samuels, Antonio Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster have collectively accounted for 625 total yards and four touchdowns over the last two games.
Cincinnati Bengals vs. Pittsburgh Steelers Betting Prediction
SU Winner: Steelers, ATS Winner: Bengals, O/U: Over
Betting Trends
- The Pittsburgh defense has sacked opposing QBs 48 times this season. Cincinnati has recorded just 33 sacks.
- The Pittsburgh offense has lost nine fumbles in 2018 while Cincinnati has lost four.
- The Bengals offense has tallied one pass play of 40 or more yards, while the Steelers have accounted for 13 such plays.
- The Cincinnati defense has allowed 12 pass plays of 40+ yards, while Pittsburgh has given up seven such plays.
- The Cincinnati offense has created 14 rushing plays of 20 yards or more, while Pittsburgh has created 10 such runs.
- The Bengals defense has allowed 15 rushing plays of 20 or more yards, while the Steelers have given up eight such runs.
- The O/U for Pittsburgh’s last match was set at 53. The over cashed in the team’s 31-28 loss to New Orleans.
- In its last three contests, Pittsburgh is 2-1 ATS and the under cashed in two of those three.
- Over its last three games, Cincinnati is 3-0 ATS.
- The O/U for Cincinnati’s last game was 44. The O/U pushed in the team’s 26-18 defeat to Cleveland.
- Cincinnati, as a team, has averaged 4.3 yards per carry over its past three games and 4.2 over its last two.
- Pittsburgh has averaged 4.2 yards per carry over its last three outings and 5.2 over its past two.
