This week the Pittsburgh Steelers (9-3) are playing the lowly Cincinnati Bengals (2-10) at Heinz Field. Will this be a blowout win for the Steelers, or can Cincinnati play spoiler and help out the rest of the AFC?
Jump for our Predictions on this game and the rest of Week 14.
Bam:
This has all the makings of a trap game. The Steelers are coming off a huge, emotional win against Baltimore and the Bengals have nothing to lose. I think it is going to be a close one, but the Steelers prevail.
Steelers 24 Bengals 21
Brian:
After watching the Steelers play a tough game against the Ravens and come out on top, it’s hard to imagine they won’t get it done against Cincinnati at home.
Steelers 24 Bengalsi 6
George:
Here are the rankings in several categories for the Steelers and Bengals from Football Outsiders and Advanced NFL Stats:
|
Team |
Overall |
Pass Offense |
Run Offense |
Pass Defense |
Run Defense |
Special Teams |
Penalty Rate |
|
PIT |
FO-2; ANS-3 |
FO-4; ANS-7 |
FO-23; ANS-20 |
FO-4; ANS-5 |
FO-1; ANS-1 |
FO-6 |
ANS-26 |
|
CIN |
FO-25; ANS-23 |
FO-16; ANS-27 |
FO-28; ANS-28 |
FO-12; ANS-22 |
FO-29; ANS-28 |
FO-29 |
ANS-9 |
The FO and ANS rankings have the Steelers ahead of the Bengals in everything except penalty rate, something that’s been well-noted lately. The Steelers rush offense ranking dropped significantly from last week, and I wouldn’t expect much of a rebound due the banged-up offensive line. Even if Mendenhall does go for over 100 yards, it will be against one of the worst rush defenses in the league.
Being at Heinz Field, I think the Steelers will win this one. The offensive line scares me every week, but with their opponent being the Bungles, they’ll pull it off. I think this game will go similarly to the one in Cincinnati: the Steelers will jump out to a huge lead, then the Bengals will have another of their fourth-quarter semi-comebacks with TD catches by Owens and 85 to make it close and give everyone a heart attack again.
Steelers 31 Bengals 24
Matt:
The Steelers are in good shape. Last week we evened up the season series between Baltimore, and jumped a game ahead of them in both the AFC North Standings and the Playoff race. This week the Steelers will be playing a team that has already been eliminated from playoff contention, but is playing for pride.
I honestly think that the Steelers should be able to win this game without difficulty…I see Big Ben throwing 3 TD passes, but the Steelers secondary will need to play better than they did the last time these two teams met.
I see the Steelers running away with this game in the second half… giving fans a break from the stress of the last two wins. Also something to note, this could be the last game the Steelers and fans can see Marvin Lewis and/or Carson Palmer on the Bengal sideline.
Steelers 34 Bengals 17
Below are the Staff Picks for the rest of this week’s games.
STAFF PICKS
|
WEEK 14 |
Bam |
Brian |
George |
Matt |
|
2010 Record |
127-65 |
119-73 |
119-73 |
115-77 |
|
Indianapolis @ Tennessee |
Indianapolis |
Indianapolis |
Tennessee |
Indianapolis |
|
Cleveland @ Buffalo |
Cleveland |
Cleveland |
Cleveland |
Buffalo |
|
Green Bay @ Detroit |
Green Bay |
Green Bay |
Green Bay |
Green Bay |
|
New York Giants @ Minnesota |
Minnesota |
New York Giants |
New York Giants |
New York Giants |
|
Cincinnati @ Pittsburgh |
Pittsburgh |
Pittsburgh |
Pittsburgh |
Pittsburgh |
|
Oakland @ Jacksonville |
Jacksonville |
Jacksonville |
Jacksonville |
Jacksonville |
|
Atlanta @ Carolina |
Atlanta |
Atlanta |
Atlanta |
Atlanta |
|
Tampa Bay @ Washington |
Washington |
Tampa Bay |
Tampa Bay |
Tampa Bay |
|
St. Louis @ New Orleans |
New Orleans |
New Orleans |
New Orleans |
New Orleans |
|
Seattle @ San Francisco |
San Francisco |
Seattle |
San Francisco |
San Francisco |
|
New England @ Chicago |
New England |
Chicago |
New England |
New England |
|
Miami @ New York Jets |
New York Jets |
New York Jets |
New York Jets |
New York Jets |
|
Denver @ Arizona |
Denver |
Arizona |
Denver |
Arizona |
|
Kansas City @ San Diego |
San Diego |
San Diego |
San Diego |
San Diego |
|
Philadelphia @ Dallas |
Philadelphia |
Dallas |
Philadelphia |
Dallas |
|
Baltimore @ Houston |
Baltimore |
Baltimore |
Baltimore |
Baltimore |
