Games listed in order of confidence
Pittsburgh Steelers @ Cincinnati Bengals
If you ask someone who is backing the Steelers, why they like Pittsburgh, it is usually one of two reasons.
*They say Big Ben
or
*They hang their hat on Cincinnati's recent failures in the playoffs, losing the last 4 years in the first round.
In a thread earlier in the week, my feelings on the game were:
Prior to Dalton being injured, the Bengals were a top contender, being mentioned with Denver & New England as the cream of the AFC.
Cincinnati is loaded with talent on both sides of the ball and when push came to shove, A.J. McCarron showed me alot on the road against the best defensive team in the league(Denver).
Offensive coordinator Hue Jackson is a quality play caller and will have a solid gameplan against the Steelers.
Here is a Bengals team feeling disrespected.
A better team than Pittsburgh who gets installed as a home underdog in the playoffs.
Cincinnati also has revenge from a 33-20 loss to Pittsburgh 4 weeks ago when the Steelers were playing inspired ball.
Public sentiment right now seems to be with the Steelers and that will only serve as further incentive for the Bengals to show up with an emotional edge.
The loss of DeAngelo Williams a significant blow to the Steelers offense.
As of now, i'll take the better team, playing at home with revenge and feeling disrespected over a Steelers team happy to have gotten in with the help of others.
Looking into the game more during the week, i like the Bengals even more.
The loss of DeAngelo Williams will allow Cincinnati to focus on putting pressure on Roethlisberger without much threat of a running game.
Cincinnati allowed second fewest points in the league @ 17.4 per game
Bengals an impressive 20-5-1 (80%) last 26 home games
When it mattered most, during the last 2 weeks of the season and their backs to the wall, with the idea of possibly being eliminated from playoff contention, Pittsburgh lost to a Ravens team who was decimated with injuries and struggled against a bottom feeder in the Cleveland Browns.
AJ McCarron will be surrounded by experienced veteran players on offense in AJ Green,Mohammed Sanu, Marvin Jones, rising star Tyler Eifert and two quality backs in Hill & Bernard.
Pittsburgh ranked 30th against the pass
Bengals one of the hottest teams against the number this year going 12-3-1
Pittsburgh sexy pick with casual player who prefers offense.
Shaky Steelers head coach Tomlin made many a risky decision during regular season that didn't pan out
Expect Cincinnati to get the playoff monkey of off their backs here.
They are the far superior team!!
Cincinnati Bengals +3 ***Max Bet***