In one of the last Monday Night Football games for the 2020 NFL season, the Pittsburgh Steelers (11-2) will be traveling to Ohio to take on the Cincinnati Bengals (2-10-1) at 8:15 p.m ET on ESPN. The last time these two played each other, the Steelers won 36-7 in dominating fashion in Week 10.
Last week, the Steelers suffered their second-straight defeat, losing 26-15 to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday Night Football. Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger did not have one of his better performances this season. He completed 21-of-37 passes for 187 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions. One of his interceptions was returned for a touchdown by Bills cornerback Taron Johnson, which completely changed the momentum of the game.
Meanwhile, the Steelers’ defense did not have an answer for the Bills’ combo of Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs. Allen was 24-of-43 for 238 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception. Diggs led both teams in receiving with 10 receptions (14 targets) for 130 yards and a touchdown.
As for the Bengals, they are in a midst of a five-game losing streak. Last week, Cincinnati lost 30-7 at home to the Dallas Cowboys. The Bengals did not necessarily play horrible, but they could not muster enough to offense to stick with the Cowboys. Quarterback Brandon Allen was 27-of-36 for 217 yards and a touchdown. His lone touchdown pass went to wide receiver A.J. Green, who had six receptions (seven targets) for 62 yards. Allen will not play on Monday night because of a knee injury, meaning that second-year quarterback Ryan Finley will get the start against the Steelers.
With that being said, where are the bettors placing their money to begin Week 15? Let’s discuss it below! All the odds and info are provided by DraftKings Sportsbook.
Point Spread
Pittsburgh is favored by 15 points heading into this late season AFC North matchup. The Steelers are also receiving 72% of the bets and 75% of the handle.
Is the public right?
Yes, the public is right with their selection. After losing two winnable games, the Steelers should be able to handle the Bengals with relative ease. As previously mentioned, they defeated them earlier in the season by a large margin and that was with rookie quarterback Joe Burrow. Now without Burrow, it’s going to be tough to see Finley try to move this ball against Pittsburgh’s defense.
Over/Under
The point total for this Monday contest is set at 40.5. As of now, 65% of the bets are siding with the over along with 54% of the handle.
Is the public right?
No, not this time at least. We know that this Steelers’ offense is capable of putting up points, especially with the weapons they have in Diontae Johnson, Chase Claypool, JuJu Smith-Schuster-Smith, and Eric Ebron. However, they’ve averaged 16 points in their last two games and the Bengals do not offer much on either side of the ball. And here’s another thing, the point total has gone under in four of Cincinnati’s last five games against the Steelers.
Moneyline
The Steelers have moneyline odds of -1000, with the Bengals’ odds coming in at +700. Of the moneyline bets placed for this game, Pittsburgh is seeing 95% of the bets and 95% of the handle.
Is the public right?
Unlike the Jets-Rams game yesterday, which was a major upset of epic proportions this season, I believe that the Steelers should coast to an easy victory over their division rivals as they try to compete for that No. 1 seed in the AFC.
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