The AFC North showdown between the Cincinnati Bengals v Pittsburgh Steelers opened the week with the Benglas as +118 ($2.18) home underdogs. Cincinnati's odds have steadily been shortening throughout the week with their latest Live NFL Odds trading between -105 ($1.95) up to +105 ($2.05) while Pittsburgh are priced between -125 ($1.80) up to -108 ($1.92). The majority of sportsbooks are running a point spread of Bengals +1 Steelers -1 and the over under total is O/U 45 which is down a point from the opener.
Wager counts from a leading offshore book show that Cincinnati has attracted 59% of the spread wagers with the +1.5 line, 56% of wagers with the +1 line and 57% of the money line bets have been on the Steelers which overall roughly evens the action out. The over under total bet has seen 63% of bets placed on the over.
Cincinnati are 3-3 with wins over Cleveland (34-27), Washington (38-31), Jacksonville (27-10) while falling short against Baltimore (13-44), Miami (13-17) and Cleveland (24-34). The Bengals have averaged 5.9 yards per play on offense and allowed 5.4 on defense for a yards per play differential of +.50. Cincinnati are 2-3-1 (-$110) against the spread, +$9 against the closing odds and 4-2 in over under betting.
Ben Roethlisberger's Steelers are 2-3 having averaged 23.2 (17th) points per game and 360.6 (16th) yards per game comprised of 285.8 passing yards and 74.8 rushing yards. They have had wins against the Jets (27-10) and Eagles (16-14) and gone down to the Broncos (19-31), Raiders (31-34) and Titans (23-26). Pittsburgh’s betting results read like this; point spread 1-4 (-$305), money line odds 2-3 (-$201) and over under totals 3-2.
| Date | Spread | Odds | Home | Score | V | Score | Away | Odds | Spread | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10/28/07 | 4 | 181 (2.81) | Bengals | 13 |  |
24 | Steelers | -196 (1.51) | -4 | 48 |
| 12/02/07 | -7 | -275 (1.36) | Steelers | 24 | |
10 | Bengals | 255 (3.55) | 7 | 40 |
| 10/19/08 | 8 | 334 (4.34) | Bengals | 10 | |
38 | Steelers | -364 (1.27) | -8 | 36.5 |
| 11/20/08 | -12 | -735 (1.14) | Steelers | 27 | |
10 | Bengals | 635 (7.35) | 12 | 34.5 |
| 09/27/09 | -4 | 157 (2.57) | Bengals | 23 | |
20 | Steelers | -172 (1.58) | 4 | 36.5 |
| 11/15/09 | -7 | -310 (1.32) | Steelers | 12 | |
18 | Bengals | 270 (3.7) | 7 | 41 |
| 11/08/10 | 5 | 210 (3.1) | Bengals | 21 | |
27 | Steelers | -235 (1.43) | -5 | 41.5 |
| 12/12/10 | -8 | -370 (1.27) | Steelers | 23 | |
7 | Bengals | 322 (4.22) | 8 | 39.5 |
| 11/13/11 | 3.5 | 171 (2.71) | Bengals | 17 | |
24 | Steelers | -190 (1.53) | -3.5 | 40.5 |
| 12/04/11 | -7 | -320 (1.31) | Steelers | 35 | |
7 | Bengals | 281 (3.81) | 7 | 43.5 |
Recent history has seen the Steelers getting the better of it with them holding an 8-2 advantage. The home v road record is 5-5 and the starting favorite has won 8 times to the underdogs 2. The winning team has covered the spread 9-0 and the over under record is 5-5 with an average game total of 39 points.
Our Take - Well history certainly favors the Steelers here, will it repeat and see Pittsburgh continue their recent dominance over Cincinnati? Our handicapping numbers here at TheFootballlines.com show sufficient value for a wager and we have taken a position on this game. Grab our pick below or check out our NFL Picks packages and our Results.