Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Cincinnati Bengals Picks, Predictions, Odds

Daniel Dobish Sports Betting Expert

4 minute read

Week 1 of the NFL season continues Sunday afternoon with an AFC North Division matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals. Coverage begins at 1 p.m. ET on CBS.

Updated on 11/21/2024

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PITTSBURGH STEELERS vs. CINCINNATI BENGALS BETTING PREDICTION

The Steelers open the season on the road against the defending AFC champion Bengals, and someone is going to get a quick leg up in the division.

Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin officially named QB Mitch Trubisky as his starting quarterback after a training camp and preseason battle with QBs Mason Rudolph and rookie Kenny Pickett. Trubisky, a former first-round pick by the Chicago Bears, played his football last season as a backup with the Buffalo Bills. He gets another shot at starting, taking over the reins after Ben Roethlisberger retired last season.

Trubisky's presence is likely to be mostly a caretaker, and you can expect the Steelers to lean heavily upon RB Najee Harris, who is entering his second NFL season. The Bengals bottled up Harris pretty well last season, holding him to 40 yards on 14 carries (2.9 yard per attempt) in the first game in Pittsburgh, although he did have a career-high 14 receptions and 102 yards on a ridiculous 19 targets. In the second meeting in Cincinnati, Harris was limited to 23 yards on nine totes, and he had just three grabs for 14 yards.

The Bengals have most of the band back together after last season's Super Bowl run. QB Joe Burrow did lose red-zone target TE C.J. Uzomah to the New York Jets, but he still has dynamic WRs Tyler Boyd, Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, and TE Hayden Hurst was brought in to replace Uzomah. And RB Joe Mixon is also back and looking for his fourth 1,000-yard rushing season in the past five years.

Score Prediction: Bengals 27, Steelers 16
Best Bet: Bengals -6.5 (-110)

PITTSBURGH STEELERS vs. CINCINNATI BENGALS TITANS BETTING ODDS

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PITTSBURGH STEELERS vs. CINCINNATI BENGALS BETTING RESOURCES

Date: Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022
Matchup: AFC North
Venue: Paycor Stadium
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio
Time-TV: CBS, 1 p.m. ET

PITTSBURGH STEELERS BETTING ANALYSIS

The Steelers used to dominate in this series, but they were swept by the Bengals for the first time since 2009. Pittsburgh might be 21-10-1 ATS in the past 32 meetings, and 16-5-2 ATS in the previous 23 trips to the Queen City, but the Steelers have dropped three in a row against the Bengals, the longest streak by Cincinnati in this series since 1990. The Steelers haven't lost four or more straight meetings with the Bengals since dropping six in a row from 1988-90.

Pittsburgh fared well inside the division last season, and it is 4-1 ATS in the past five against AFC North Division foes. However, the Steelers have managed to cash just once in the past five road trips, while going 1-4 ATS in the previous five as a road 'dog, too.

As far as the total is concerned, the UNDER is 6-2 in the past eight games in the month of September for the Steelers. The UNDER is also 4-1 in their past five regular-season openers, while going 5-1 inside the division last season. And, the UNDER is an impressive 43-18-1 in the past 62 on the road.

In this rivalry, the UNDER has hit at a 5-2-1 clip across the previous eight meetings, too.

CINCINNATI BENGALS BETTING ANALYSIS

The Bengals not only won the AFC North Division title last season, its first since 2015, it obvious made a run all the way to Super Bowl LVI, eventually losing to the Los Angeles Rams in a close game.

Cincinnati made that run thanks to a tremendous pass attack, led by the budding superstar Burrow. The Bengals ranked seventh in the NFL with 259.0 passing yards per game, and Cincinnati was also seventh in the NFL with 27.1 PPG. The offensive line showed a lot of improvement, helping to keep Burrow upright and healthy. The defense was strong against the run, allowing just 102.5 yards per game to rank fifth, but it struggled against the pass, and was an area the team addressed when drafting with the first two picks S Daxton Hill out of Michigan, as well as CB Cam Taylor-Britt from Nebraska.

The Bengals have cashed in eight in a row, while going a perfect 4-0 ATS in the past four at Paycor Stadium, previously known as Paul Brown Stadium. The Bengals were also 5-1 ATS last season inside the division, and they're 6-2-1 ATS in the past nine regular-season openers.

For totals, the Bengals hit the OVER in four of the past five inside the division, while going 10-4-1 in the past 15 as a favorite. The UNDER is 4-1 in the past five in September, however.

PITTSBURGH STEELERS vs. CINCINNATI BENGALS BETTING TRENDS

• Steelers are 1-4 ATS in the past five road games.
• Steelers are 1-4 ATS in the past five as a road 'dog.
• Steelers are 4-1 ATS in the past five vs. AFC North.
• Bengals are 8-0 ATS in the past eight games overall.
• Bengals are 4-0 ATS in the past four home games.
• Bengals are 5-1 ATS in the past six vs. AFC North.
• Bengals are 6-2-1 ATS in the past nine regular-season openers.
• UNDER is 43-18-1 in the past 62 road games for the Steelers.
• UNDER is 5-1 in the past six vs. AFC North for the Steelers.
• UNDER is 4-1 in the past five regular-season openers for the Steelers.
• UNDER is 4-1 in the past five September games for the Bengals.
• OVER is 4-1 in the past 15 vs. AFC North for the Bengals.
• OVER is 10-4-1 in the past 15 as a fave for the Bengals.
• Steelers are 16-5-2 ATS in the past 23 trips to Cincinnati.
• Steelers are 21-10-1 ATS in the past 32 meetings.
• UNDER is 5-2-1 in the past eight meetings.

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Daniel Dobish

Dan is a handicapper and sports betting expert for VegasInsider with years of experience writing for a number of top publications in the industry. More from Daniel Dobish