The Steelers are looking to separate themselves from the Patriots atop the AFC, but they’ll first need to beat the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday night.
If you wanted to end the season today and base the playoff finishes off of the standings, the Pittsburgh Steelers would be representing the AFC in the Super Bowl in February. However, if you’re a fan of the AFC, you may not want them representing your conference after how they played last Sunday night.
The Steelers may have a 9-2 record at the moment, good enough for first place in their division and conference, but they played like a 2-9 team when the Green Bay Packers came to town in Week 12. Their defense made Brett Hundley look like Aaron Rodgers offensively, and it took a last-minute drive to even squeak out a win at home against a team battered by injuries.
Now, the Steelers will need to turn things around in a hurry as they head to play a divisional rival, with the Cincinnati Bengals looking to play spoiler in this Week 13 matchup on the Monday night stage on ESPN. With how last week went, it looks like any team could keep it close with the Steelers, and it’ll be interesting to see if the Bengals can.
Odds: Steelers -5.5, according to Odds Shark
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This game could honestly go a ton of different directions, ranging anywhere from an upset for the Bengals in a close game to an absolute blowout at the hands of Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown and LeVeon Bell for the Steelers. Somehow, the odds have this one staying relatively close, or much closer than it should be considering the talent gap between the two teams.
While the Steelers looked bad last week, I think they’ll bounce back in a big way when the Bengals come to battle, and I believe the Killer B’s will go off for a huge night in a blowout win.
Prediction: Steelers 31, Bengals 13