Bengals at Steelers: Analysis, odds, expert picks and predictions

The Bengals are huge underdogs in their final game of the season, and it doesn’t seem like the experts are giving them much of a chance.

The Bengals have one final game to play in 2018, and considering their opponent, it should be no surprise that they are heavy underdogs. The Steelers will be hosting a Bengals team that just placed three more players on injured reserve this week as they literally limp towards the finish line. The Bengals have struggled to form a positive perception of the team since their 4-1 start, and the injuries continuing to pile up don’t help. Just how bad of underdogs are the Bengals though this week?

Odds

The Bengals are currently 14.5 point underdogs, according to Bovada. Cincinnati is on the road and are far more banged up than when they took the Steelers to the brink in their Week 6 matchup.

If the Bengals are essentially two-touchdown underdogs after scoring 15 garbage time points against the Browns last week, It’d be really interesting to see what the spread would be had they laid down at the conclusion of that blowout in the making. The Browns showing that Joe Mixon can be limited on your while also pressuring Jeff Driskel to no end is also not great, so there’s a clear formula for Pittsburgh to cover this large spread.

Betting trends

• Cincinnati is 4-2 against the spread in its last six games
• Cincinnati is 1-6 straight up in its last seven games
• Cincinnati is 4-1 against the spread in its last five games on the road
• Cincinnati is 1-5 straight up in its last six games on the road
• Cincinnati is 1-5-1 against the spread in its last seven games when playing Pittsburgh
• Cincinnati is 0-5 straight up in its last five games when playing Pittsburgh
• The total has gone under in four of Cincinnati’s last six games when playing Pittsburgh
• Cincinnati is 1-4 against the spread in its last five games when playing on the road against Pittsburgh
• Cincinnati is 1-4 straight up in its last five games when playing on the road against Pittsburgh
• The total has gone under in seven of Cincinnati’s last nine games when playing on the road against Pittsburgh
• Pittsburgh is 2-3-1 against the spread in its last six games
• Pittsburgh is 1-4 straight up in its last five games
• The total has gone under in four of Pittsburgh’s last six games
• Pittsburgh is 4-1 against the spread in its last five games at home
• Pittsburgh is 4-8 against the spread in its last 12 games at home
• Pittsburgh is 4-1 straight up in its last five games at home
• The total has gone over in four of Pittsburgh’s last five games at home

Expert picks and predictions

• Fox Sports is predicting a 18.4 to 28.6 point loss for the Bengals
• All seven of ESPN’s picked the Steelers over the Bengals
• None of SB Nation’s six experts took Cincinnati
• NFL Pick Watch, which takes into account picks from experts across the web, has the Bengals receiving two percent of the picks.

After the Bengals struggled mightily against the Browns last week for 55 minutes of the game, it isn’t a shock that no one is willing to take a chance on them; especially with the Steelers in a must-win situation. Ending any hopes the Steelers have at extending their season would be briefly satisfying, but the Bengals would be right back to where they were this time last year.

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