Projected Line: 38 points
This will be the second AFC North division battle of the week and just like it happened yesterday in the game between the Ravens and the Browns, I expect tonight's game to be a very physical one, with both teams showing a clear sense of urgency after losing their week 1 games. Matchup wise, I also believe that both defenses will create a lot of issues on the opposing offenses. Pittsburgh's offense wasn't already a great unit, but things only got a lot worse after LaRod Stephens-Howling (RB + return specialist), Markice Pouncey (starting center and director of the Steelers' OL) and even their kicker Shaun Suisham got injured. Ben Roethlisberger was only able to throw for 191 yards last week against a not-good Titans' secondary, while being sacked five times. With no running game and offensive line to protect, I believe Big Ben will heavily struggle tonight against an excellent Bengals' pass rush.
On the other side, Cincinnati lost at Chicago last Sunday, in a game where their lack of a running game was a concern once again, after having suffered from the same problem last season. They had just 63 rushing yards in 21 carries for an average of 3.0 yards per carry. Of course the Andy Dalton/A.J. Green combo worked great, as Green had 162 receiving yards and two touchdowns, however the Bengals' offense was basically an one-man show and this kind of one-dimensional offenses sooner or later get stopped big time. I believe Pittsburgh's defense plan for tonight will be to guard A.J. Green as physically as possible, exposing the lack of other offensive solutions in Cincinnati. With this happening, I believe this will be a low scoring game and so, I'll be taking the Under in here.
Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 223/224 Under 41 @ -110 / 1.91 on Bovada
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