Cincinnati at Pittsburgh (11/20/2008)

Bengalsfan9, we may agree to disagree at some point, but not today-  Steelers take this one and cover with authority-  Didnt cover last 3 of 4, Under last 3 of 4-        

 

Live in Pittsburgh, long time steeler fan......with the hardest schedule in the league, we have been battle tested thus far, and this game tonight on Thurs night is definatly a needed win with Baltimoreplaying decent football and steadily staying within the heels of the Steelers in the division

 

Next 4 games- @ NE (they need wins, and depending how they do at MIa, it could be do or die, that is if the jets pull it off), Home against the Cowgirls (romos splint will be off, and in their division every game has playoff implications- plus pac-man will be back, sober this time around, well maybe), @Baltimore (They'll be physical and head-hunting Hines), @ Tenn (enough said there), and Cleveland last game of the year (always for pride, but rarely for playoffs in this one-sided war)

If the game is called right

CIN + 10.5

UN 34

If it is called to pay back the Pit backers [ SD/PIT game]

Pitt covers- 10.5

Throwing out the BS, Pitt can't cover 10.5 in conditions[Weather] they will be playing in.

 

No bet for me.

ocho cinco out....steelers -10.5

I dont know which way to play on this game. I am thinking

 

BENGALS + 10.5

WHOOPS

I can look out the my office window and see the stadium, it's cold here today. Will be in the 20's at kickoff with about 10 mph winds.  Very similar to the game Sunday evening with less snow probably. 10.5 seems like a lot in those conditions for a nfl team which will be a low scoring game to begin with.  Cincy also has some revenge on their minds for Hines after he broke that dude's jaw. The bengals have been holed up in the Omni downtown since yesterday afternoon and probably saw Hines doing the weather forecast on the local news..

 

I am undecided on this game but what concerns me the most is how anyone thinks Cincinnati will score 17 points against a PITTBURGH DEFENSE that allows just 15 points a game. In their losses at home this year to the COLTS and GIANTS they gave up 24 and 21 points respectively...but we can all agree CINCI's offense is not even close to these two teams.

 

Ryan Fitzpatrick has yet to throw TD on the road and I think that task gets a little harder on the road in front of a hostile crowd in PITTSBURGH. PITT’s def allows just 67 rushing ypg which means they will need to throw the ball. Here comes another problem...Cinci has allowed a league leading 38 sacks and last week against Philly Fitzpatrick was sacked 8 times. When Pittsburgh and Cincinnati played earlier this year Fitzpatrick was sacked 7 times. I don't see the pressure letting up tonight...we can probably expect to see a ton of pressure and 4-5 sacks.

 

So, now the question becomes how many points can the Steelers put up...Well, we all now how much the Steelers love to play hard nosed, grind it out football....run, run, run, pass. I don't expect high scoring game and everyone seems to be on the OVER, but if Cinci can't get into the endzone and are limited to FG's then Pittsburgh needs to put up at least 25 points in order to cover. IMO Cinci doesn't score more than 13 points to night and would be lucky to find the endzone one time. Pittsburgh runs the ball scores a couple TD and hits a few FG's and gets a very close cover.

 

 My hope would be that the total gets driven up to 36 before kick off and the line moves to 10 and I can buy it down to 9.5. I’ll post my final play later in the day as the line and number move.

 

GLA

 Chad Johnson inactive tonight for violating team rule.

I love tonights matchup and heres why;

 

Firstly I want to say that I am on fire lately, so I intend on extending my win streak this week to 4-0. Bengals are starting 2 rookie O linemen tonight in which will make for a soft spot for Pitt D to cut into and take advantage of the QB. Fitz will be on his back so much tonight he will feel like a hooker in a Tijuana person house. That being said with the recent update that Ocho Stinko will not be playing tonight due to unspecified reasons until after the game, he has been deactivated and I do not believe he even travels with the team. I have a sneaky suspicion that this game could be a shutout!! I look for big been to score early, and Pitts D to force a multitude of turnovers, Houshmanzada will get double teamed tonight and cinci has zero running game. Not to mention that they will be facing one of the best in the NFL against the pass and the run, so I ponder for a moment.......how will they even score at all??

 

I can't believe that anyone could take Cin in this one.    Only if the line was at 24 or better.    Pittsburgh will roll in this one.    Look for the score to be around 24 - 3 or better for Pitt.    Depends on weather at game time.    Cincinnati is horrible and it will only get worse.....

 i'm on Pittsburgh team total over 23...the snow won't be too bad and i think the offense gets back to par, meanwhile the defense should be good for plenty of short fields, if not points on their own...

I can't believe how many people are on the bengals here. They're 1-8-1 people. I could care less if they played well the last two games when they went 1-0-1. They're missing 5 starters for this game (two offensive lineman, ocho cinco, ndukwe, and odom) and coming off a short week. One of the new offensive lineman will be matched up against James Harrison, who is a legitimate candidate for defensive mvp right now. That could force them to double team him or keep an extra back in to help block, but this should only help free lamar woodley on the other side get to fitzpatrick easier. Obviously the Steelers are coming off a short week too but they seem to be getting healthier. Big Ben wasn't on the injury report this week, willie parker should be healthier than last week, and heath miller should play. Not to mention the bengals have the 30th ranked offense in the nfl going up against the steelers all-around number one defense (1st in total defense, 1st against the run, 1st against the pass, 1st in total points allowed). I expect the Steelers to dominate, cause some turnovers, and put up some points, they put up 38 on them last game. I also think the Steelers offense is going to want to be more efficient in the red zone (get touchdowns instead of field goals) than they have been the last couple of weeks.

 PITTSBURGH CRYBABYS TAKE HEART THIS WILL NOT BE THE LAST GAME STOLEN BY THE REFS IN THE NFL NOR IS IT THE FIRST IT IS A BITCH WHEN YOU END UP ON THE WRONG SIDE BUT TAKE SOLICE FROM THE FACT THAT MOST OF US HAVE BEEN GIVEN A GAME IN OUR BETTING CAREERS BY THE REFS AS WELL

Tokin33 - I have Pitt team total 22.5.  I was previously thinking of taking Cincy team total over 12 but the more I look at it the more I question how they will score tonight.  I think Cincy will get a couple of FGs and then a late TD when the game is out of reach. 

 

I think Pitt might get a TD or two on defense alone.  I'm now leaning Pitt over 22.5 team total is the best play tonight....

 

GL