The Pittsburgh Steelers have stacked three wins in a row and Vegas oddsmakers are finally starting to gain confidence in them. They are opening up as 5.5-point road favorites in Week 7 against the Cincinnati Bengals, per VSiN.
Away games haven’t been kind to the Steelers on Thursday Night Football, but it’s hard to bet against them continuing their win streak against the hapless 2-4 Bengals.
Which trend will prove stronger? Cincinnati has lost four straight games since Joe Burrow’s injury. On the flipside, the Steelers have won just two out of 11 away games on Thursday Night Football during the Mike Tomlin era. Their last such win came in 2016 against the Indianapolis Colts.
The Bengals’ last four games have been about as ugly as it gets without Burrow. They have been outscored 140-55 during that span. Backup QB Jake Browning was part of the problem, but they still struggled after trading for Joe Flacco and starting him against the Green Bay Packers Sunday. Flacco had 45 pass attempts against the Packers, which doesn’t bode well behind a leaky offensive line — especially against Pittsburgh’s red-hot pass rush.
The Steelers are coming off their most complete game of the season in a 23-9 win over the Cleveland Browns. Despite their 1-5 record, the Browns have one of the league’s top defenses. The Steelers had the most yards (335) against Cleveland’s defense all season and scored more points on the Browns than the Bengals (with Burrow), the Packers, and the Vikings.
All things considered, the Steelers should be larger favorites over the Bengals, but their track record on Thursday Night Football and their penchant for losing unexplainable games is working against them. With a chance to improve to 2-0 in the AFC North while the 1-5 Ravens watch from their couches during bye week, the Steelers need to break the trend and handle business against a decidedly weaker opponent.
