Monday Night Football is here for Week 2 of the NFL season with a very important AFC North battle between the Bengals and Steelers. These are two teams considered bubble playoff teams and the chances are very good that only one of these teams will be in the postseason again this year. Last season the Bengals finished 10-6 to grab a wild card spot, while the Steelers had a rough 8-8 season to miss the playoffs.
Last year the away team won both of the games between these teams with the Bengals winning a very important week 16 game in Pittsburgh to continue their playoff push.
This year each of these teams started out 0-1 with the Bengals losing a tight one in Chicago, while the Steelers looked subpar losing at home to the Titans.
Bet365 has the Bengals as 6 point favorites in this game, but other bookies have them as 6.5. I personally like the Steelers to keep the game within a touchdown and possibly win the game in Cincinnati.
Big Ben did not have a good game last week, but I just can’t count this guy out, especially in big games like everyone knows this one will be. He should be able to get out of the pocket and make some plays this week against the Bengals defense, but Antonio Brown and Emmanuel Sanders need to have big games for the Steelers.
Pittsburgh’s run game is not where it needs to be at the moment, which means Ben will be pressured a lot and he will have to be able to step up to the plate if the Steelers will win tonight.
The biggest weapon that the Steelers will have to shut down on the other side of the ball is AJ Green. He had 9 catches for 162 yards and 2 touchdowns last week against Chicago and if he puts up that kind of effort again this week the game could get away from the Steelers very fast.
Divisional games are always interesting though because the teams know each other so well. I also don’t think the home field advantage matters as much in this game as many others, as the two away wins between these teams showed last season.
Take the points and expect a tight battle that could go either way.
Play: Steelers +6 (Bet365.com)
Tagged With : Cincinnati Bengals • MNF • Monday Night Football • Pittsburgh Steelers