Cincinnati Bengals vs. Pittsburgh Steelers NFL Betting Odds & Spread

Written November 18, 2008 by Jason Lowry

This Thursday the Cincinnati Benglas look for revenge on the Pittsburgh Steelers when the two division rivals meet up for the 2nd time this season. In the first bout the Steelers went into Cincinnati and clobbered the Bengals 38-10. Last week the Bengals found themselves in i tie game against the Eagles, as neither team could pull ahead in overtime. The Steelers battled the cold and snow to barely sneak by the Charges 11-10. For those of you looking to get a head start on NFL betting for the weekend, the oddsmakers have the Steelers 10.5 point favorites over the Bengals at Sportsbook.com

After starting the season 0-8 the Bengals nearly won for the 2nd straight game last week, as Shayne Graham had a shot from 47 yards to win the game, but was unable to connect and the game finished 13-13. Now neither offense was very good in this one, but no one even expected the Bengals to have a shot in this one, so a tie is pretty much like a win for this team. Ryan Fitzpatrick threw the ball 44 times in this one, and was able to connect on 29 of those passes, including 12 tosses to TJ Houshmandzadeh for 149 yards and the teams only touchdown. The running game wasn’t so good, as Cedric Benson led the way with 42 yards, but Benson did add another 37 yards off 6 catches. It’s not going to get any easier playing on the road this week against a top notch defense like the Steelers.

Now the one way the Bengals can stay in this one, is if the defense can give Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger as much trouble as they gave Donovan McNabb last week. The Bengals defense did let McNabb throw for 339 yards and a score, but they picked off McNabb 3 times, forced a fumble, and sacked the star quarterback 2 times. Now the reason for McNabb throwing for so many yards, is the Bengals did an excellent job stopping the run, as Brian Westrbook had just 60 yards on 14 carries in this one. If the Bengals can somehow repeated this performance they should easily cover the 10.5 points this weekend. Bet Bengals +10.5 at Sportsbook.com

Now its hard to imagine the Steelers coming out like the Eagles did last week, and the fact that they are playing there 3rd straight game at home makes this even harder on the Bengals this week. With just 6 games remaining in the regular season, this is the only team under .500 they will face besides the Browns in the final game of the season. Last week the Steelers got Willie Parker back in action, and the star back responded by running for 115 yards on 25 carries, but was just like the rest of the offense was unable to find the endzone. In fact the Steelers could muster just 3 field goals and a safety in this one. Roethlisberger was pretty solid throwing the football, completing 31 of 41 passes for 308 yards, but just couldn’t make the big play when needed. With a healthy Parker and Roethlisberger looking strong again, we expect this offense to pick it up big time against the Bengals this week.

The Steelers defense continued to be a force this season, as they shut down the Chargers after letting LaDainian Tomlinson score a 3 yard touchdown early in the first quarter. In fact Tomlinson had just 57 yards rushing for the entire game, but was also the leading receiver for the Chargers with 3 catches for 40 yards. The reason for that was Philip Rivers just didn’t have it going in this one, as he was able to throw for just 159 yards and 2 interceptions, including one to Troy Polamalu, who continues to play at an extremely high level after missing most of last season. in the first matchup between these two teams the Steelers were all over Fitzpatrick, as they sacked the quarterback 7 times. Look for much of the same from this defense again this week, as this is a game this team can’t afford to lose. Bet Steelers -10.5 at Sportsbook.com

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