Cincinnati Bengals @ Pittsburgh Steelers
Sunday, November 16th, 1:00 PM ET
The Cincinnati Bengals are a bad football team, and the Pittsburgh Steelers might also be. The Bengals were on their bye in Week 10 and are at least coming into this game well-rested. This team lost a dramatic game to the Chicago Bears in Week 9.
And we saw the Pittsburgh Steelers lose in pathetic fashion to the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday Night Football. Both AFC North teams, once proud, struggle to do some of the basic things. Cincy’s defense might just be the worst in the NFL, and the Steelers just do not have a well-constructed roster.
At the end of the day, though, the Steelers are the better team, but that is not saying much. Now at 5-4, the Steelers risk seeing their AFC North lead disappear as the Baltimore Ravens get healthy and stack wins themselves.
For a time there, it did seem like the Steelers were going to cruise to that division title, but they now might struggle to get into the playoffs with how solid other AFC teams are. In this matchup, the Bengals offense is actually the strongest unit, but playing in Pittsburgh is always tough.
And I do have a hard time not picking the home team in this one. The Steelers typically never go away, either, as head coach Mike Tomlin has never finished with a losing season in his career, and Pittsburgh falling to 5-5 would feel a bit shaky in that regard.
Pittsburgh wins this one and improves to 6-4, which would guarantee that their AFC North lead remains for another week, but these are the types of games that the Steelers will need to win if they hope to fend-off the Ravens.
It’s not going to be easy, though, as the Steelers only win by one, as the Bengals’ offense is just too good to not put up points.