Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Cincinnati Bengals: NFL Free Pick

The Steelers finally fell for the second time this season, as they were beaten by the New Orleans Saints on Sunday Night Football in the Bayou. This is the third straight very arduous road game for Pittsburgh, and it will be thrilled to go back home next week. QB Ben Roethlisberger has now started three games and looks to be getting his feet on the ground this year. Since coming back from his suspension, the Steelers’ signal caller is completing 63.4 percent of his passes for 754 yards with five scores and two picks. He is getting all of his receivers involved as well, something that didn’t happen with either QB Charlie Batch of QB Dennis Dixon throwing the pigskin. WR Mike Wallace is averaging a whopping 23.4 yards per catch this year, and though he only has 17 receptions, he has 397 yards and four scores. Still, this is an offense that revolves around RB Rashard Mendenhall. Mendenhall is one of the few backs in the league that is averaging over 20 carries per game, and he has 603 yards and six TDs. The defense, which is holding teams under 60 rushing yards per game, is always the focal point of the Steelers though, and this year is no exception.

The Bengals have been an up and down team this year. They have a victory against the Baltimore Ravens here at home, but they have yet to win a road game and cannot beat a team from the Sunshine State to save their lives. You never really know what you’re getting from QB Carson Palmer either. Two weeks ago against the Atlanta Falcons, he threw for 412 yards, this third game this year with at least 345 yards through the air. Unfortunately, in his other four games, he has eclipsed 210 yards and has averaged just 181.8 yards per game through the air. RB Cedric Benson hasn’t really panned out this year either, as he has just 545 yards and two TDs. Defensively, DB Leon Hall has four picks to lead the team, but no one on this defensive line has more than two sacks. The Bengals rank dead last in the NFL with six sacks as a team. The squad has averaged allowing 27.0 points per game over its last four, and this hasn’t been an overly difficult stretch of the slate.

For our money, this is the toughest game on the schedule to try to handicap. The Steelers are significantly better than Cincinnati is, and they have really done well in this series, even here at Paul Brown Stadium. The problem is that they were swept in this series last year, and the Bengals are really playing for their lives. We’ll take the points and hope that this is another one of those close games in this rivalry.