A weekly article we’ll post that gives a brief overview of how the national media views the Pittsburgh Steelers’ odds. Just a skinny summary of notable names who are picking for or against Pittsburgh. We’ll see who gets it right most often. If they offer a score prediction, we’ll include that, too. When applicable, I’ll also toss in the predictions from Dave Bryan and myself, just to see how we stack up.
Today, predictions for the team’s Week 12 battle against the Cincinnati Bengals.
THOSE PICKING THE STEELERS
Pete Prisco/CBS Sports: Steelers (23-21)
Chris Simms/Pro Football Talk: Steelers (17-13)
Dave Bryan/Steelers Depot: Steelers (22-17)
Pat McAfee/Pat McAfee Show: Steelers
Mike Florio/Pro Football Talk: Steelers (17-10)
Alex Kozora/Steelers Depot: Steelers (20-17)
Colleen Wolfe/NFL Network: Steelers (17-13)
Vinnie Iyer/Sporting News: Steelers (20-17)
Daniel Jeremiah/NFL Network: Steelers (20-17)
A.J. Hawk/Pat McAfee Show: Steelers
Nate Davis/USA Today: Steelers (23-16)
Maurice Jones-Drew/NFL Network: Steelers (20-10)
THOSE PICKING THE BENGALS
Safid Deen/USA Today: Bengals (16-13)
A.Q. Shipley/Pat McAfee Show: Bengals
Total
Those Picking The Steelers: 12
Those Picking The Bengals: 2
Quick Notes
– Had to pick some names we usually don’t roll with in order to get some Bengals choices in there. But the national media is very much on the Steelers’ side. More than I thought they’d be.
– Still, the panels are also projecting low-scoring games. Of the 11 score predictions, no one has either side registering more than 23 points. In four of them, neither team reaches 20.
– Week 12 will mark the first matchup between the Steelers and Bengals this season. It’s the latest the two teams have squared off for the first time since 2014 when they played in Week 14 and again in Week 17. Pittsburgh won both of those matchups.
– The Bengals have allowed 30-plus points in consecutive games. The Steelers have not scored at least 30 points since last November, now more than a full calendar year, when they lost 37-30 to the Bengals.
– Bengals RB Joe Mixon has 153 carries. The next-closest running back on the team has 12. Overall, Mixon makes up for 90.5 percent of the running back carries this season. A workhorse back in an era where many teams, including the Steelers, have shifted away from them.
– The three healthy quarterbacks on the Steelers’ roster have a combined 2,851 career regular-season passing attempts. The three healthy arms on the Bengals side have 189, most coming from backup A.J. McCarron, who has not thrown an NFL pass since 2020. Starting QB Jake Browning has 15 while third-stringer Drew Plitt has zero. Of course, the quality of the Steelers’ passing attempts is a different story.
– Despite the Steelers and Bengals having .500 or winning records (Pittsburgh 6-4, Cincinnati 5-5), they have a combined point differential of minus-53. The Bengals at minus-24, the Steelers at minus-29.
