The Pittsburgh Steelers are slight underdogs to Cincinnati Bengals for their Week 18 regular season finale. Per VSIN, DraftKings has the Bengals opening as two-point favorites over the Steelers. The over/under sits at 47.5.
As of this writing, the day and time of kickoff isn’t yet known. That won’t be announced until later tonight during the Sunday Night Football broadcast. Pittsburgh and Cincinnati could play in one of the Saturday slots or on Sunday.
It’s an important matchup for Pittsburgh and critical one for Cincinnati. The Steelers still have an outside chance of becoming the No. 3 seed and winning the AFC North. To do so, they must beat the Bengals while the Cleveland Browns must upset the Baltimore Ravens. The Browns are currently massive 17.5-point underdogs to the Ravens. A Steelers’ loss could drop them to the No. 6 seed should the Los Angeles Chargers beat or tie the Las Vegas Raiders. The Chargers are six-point favorites for their finale.
For the Bengals, they must win this game to have any playoff hope. Even with a victory, they’ll need the Denver Broncos to fall to the Kansas City Chiefs (who are expected to rest their starters) and have the Miami Dolphins lose to the New York Jets in order to claim the final Wild Card seed.
Once 4-8, the Bengals have won four-straight games to give them playoff life, a concept unthinkable one month ago. They netted a huge Saturday night win over the Denver Broncos, outlasting them 30-24 in overtime. WR Tee Higgins caught three touchdowns, including the game-winner late in the fifth frame.
The Steelers defeated the Bengals 44-38 in a Week 13 shootout. Quarterbacks Russell Wilson and Joe Burrow had strong performances, combining to throw for over 700-yards and seven touchdowns. Pittsburgh bounced back from an early pick-six to tie the game at 7. By halftime, the Steelers inched ahead 27-21 and built a multi-score fourth quarter lead thanks to EDGE Nick Herbig’s strip/sack and LB Payton Wilson’s recovery for a touchdown.
The Bengals scored a late touchdown to make things 44-38 but the Steelers recovered the ensuing onside kick and ran out the clock.
TE Pat Freiermuth will look to have another big day after catching six passes for 68-yards and one touchdown against the Bengals in that first meeting. WR George Pickens caught three passes for 74-yards and a score. Defensively, EDGE T.J. Watt picked up a pair of sacks while CB Donte Jackson intercepted Burrow.
Pittsburgh has won their last three games against Cincinnati and are looking for their second-straight season sweep.
