Now that the 2015-16 NFL Regular Season has come into Week 14 we have some interesting match-ups, one of which is on Sunday the 13th of December 2015 with the 2 AFC North rivals playing as the Steelers of Pittsburgh 7-5 take on the 1st place AFC North Bengals of Cincinnati 10-2 with the game being played at the Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio with the kick-off scheduled for 1:05 PM ET and seen on CBS TV.
If you Bet on NFL football the gambling odds for this game have the Bengals of Cincinnati favored at -3 -120 with the Over/under at 49 ½ and -170 on the Money Line, and the listed underdogs are the Steelers of Pittsburgh at +3 Even and +150 on the ML. This game may determine the winner of the AFC North especially if the Bengals beat the Steelers in this game, and both last week had impressive victories over their opponents. Now fans are wondering which team has the momentum to be victorious this Sunday.
For the fans of the 7-5 Steelers of Pittsburgh surely you know that when the Steelers play the Colts their QB Roethlisberger always produces some huge offensive statistics, and that happened last Sunday as he passed for 4 touchdowns and 365 yards in the victory over Indianapolis 45-10.
Normally when he shines, so do many other Steelers players as the team had 3 players that had 100 yard games; WR A. Brown had 119 yards on 8 catches and score 2 touchdowns, WR. Bryant with 114 yards on 5 catches and 1 TD, and RB D. Williams with 166 total yards with 31 yards of that total on 5 receptions and the rest was rushing yardage.
Presently the defense of the Steelers has come back to life as they were able to intercept on 2 occasions Sunday the Colts QB M. Hasselbeck, thus the Steelers this season have 14 intercepts and that ranks 2nd in the league.
The team is playing like their Coach Tomlin had expected when the season started with their high powered offense and defense that created opportunities for their offense. Thus the Steelers now need to put their struggles due to injuries in the past, and this week displays that talent against the Division leader Bengals. The Steelers have won 3 out of the last 4 meetings with Cincinnati.
If you’re a fan of the 10-2 Bengals of Cincinnati surely you know that this is the 2nd time in Franchise history that the team has started the season at 10-2 as they reached that record with their rout of the Browns of Cleveland this past Sunday 37-3. You’re QB A. Dalton completed 14 of his 19 passing attempts for some 222 yards and 2 touchdowns, and also ran for a TD in that game.
That was no great output in passing for QB Dalton, but the offense was sparked by their other weapons. TE A. Green had 5 receptions for 129 yards and 1 TD, RB’s J. Hill and G. Bernard had a combined 124 yards rushing and 1 TD in the game. Thus the Bengals now clicking on offense will make it tough for the Steelers as both seek the playoffs, and that win last Sunday was without TE T. Eifert (neck injury) who leads the NFL in touchdowns with 12. Hopefully he will recover and play against the Steelers on Sunday.
The Bengals defense is also playing well as of late, making 3 sacks and 7 tackles as the held the Browns to only a field goal last Sunday. The Cincinnati defense presently is leading the NFL allowing only 17.5 points in each game this season. So if the Bengals are victorious in this Sunday game they can lock up for the 5th straight season as playoff spots, and make the chances for their rival Steelers in the playoffs nearly impossible. That could be easier said than done since the Bengals playing at home against the Steelers have lost 4 of their ultimate 5 games with Pittsburgh.
The sportsbook prediction for this AFC-North rivalry game is that the Steelers complicate the playoff scene as the pull off an upset and beat the Bengals 34-29.