Cincinnati Bengals at Pittsburgh Steelers, Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, PA
Sunday, December 12, 2010, 1:00 pm EST, TV: CBS
Opening Line: Steelers -9
Current Line: Steelers -9
Opening Total: 40.5
Current Total: 39.5
Money Line: Steelers -400 / Bengals +330
The Pittsburgh Steelers (9-3) are coming off their biggest win of the season but will need to guard against a letdown when they host the slumping Cincinnati Bengals (2-10) in this AFC North matchup on Sunday. The Steelers (-9) have a one-game division lead over Baltimore following a gritty 13-10 road win against the Ravens last Sunday night while the Bengals will be looking to avoid tying their franchise record for consecutive losses in a season.
Cincinnati has dropped nine straight games since a 2-1 start, beating the spread just twice during that stretch. One of those covers came last week in a 34-30 home loss to New Orleans, despite the fact that the Bengals were called offside on a critical 4th-and-2 play on their own 7-yard line, giving the Saints a first-and-goal with less than a minute to play. New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees hit wide receiver Marques Colston with the game-winning touchdown pass on the very next play. Cincy was a 6.5-point underdog but blew an excellent opportunity to end their skid.
Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer played solid in defeat, failing to throw an interception for the first time since Week 7 at Atlanta. Palmer passed for 249 yards and one touchdown against the Saints after throwing at least one pick in each of his previous five games and two or more in the past three. Running back Cedric Benson found paydirt twice against New Orleans as well even though he rushed for just 49 yards on 19 carries. Benson has rushed for more than 70 yards only once in the last seven games, totaling four touchdowns during that stretch.
Pittsburgh made it out of Sunday’s game at Baltimore bruised but not beaten with the team’s defense coming up with some big plays late in the game. All-Pro safety Troy Polamalu continued to prove himself as arguably the most valuable defensive player in the NFL by causing a fumble in the final minutes that allowed quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to complete the game-winning touchdown pass to Isaac Redman with 2:51 remaining.
Roethlisberger played with a sprained foot and broke his nose on the first series for the Steelers, undergoing surgery on Monday to fix it. Still, he played well enough to win the game, passing for 253 yards with the one touchdown and one interception. Unfortunately for Pittsburgh, one of his top targets – tight end Heath Miller – suffered a concussion and is listed as doubtful. The team also lost punter Daniel Sepulveda for the season with a torn ACL in his right knee.
The Steelers have dropped two of the last three meetings in the series with Cincinnati both straight-up and against the spread but won the previous five before the Bengals swept them last year. The OVER is 4-1 in the last five meetings.
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