Bengals Need Victory Over Steelers, Help

Football Betting Lines

12/29/2006 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cincinnati Bengals will take one last shot at making the playoffs this Sunday, when they welcome the Pittsburgh Steelers to Paul Brown Stadium.

After last week's heartbreaking 24-23 loss in snowy Denver, the Bengals now need a win and some help to secure a postseason berth.

Cincinnati dropped a close game to the Broncos on Sunday,and in bizarre fashion. The Bengals were in position to tie the game after Carson Palmer connected with T.J. Houshmandzadeh on a 10-yard touchdown pass with 41 seconds left in the fourth quarter, but Cincy botched the snap on the extra-point try and wound up losing by a single point.

In order to make the playoffs now, the Bengals have to beat the Steelers and hope the New York Jets lose Sunday's home game to the 2-13 Oakland Raiders. Cincinnati could also gain that elusive Wild Card spot if it wins, Denver loses to visiting San Francisco, and Kansas City beats Jacksonville at Arrowhead.

The Steelers are officially reduced to a spoiler role this weekend, as they were eliminated from playoff contention with Sunday's lopsided loss to Baltimore. The Ravens, winners of the AFC North title, romped Pittsburgh, 31-7, at Heinz Field to finally end the Steelers' dreams of repeating as Super Bowl champions.

Pittsburgh will miss out on the playoffs for the first time since 2003, and just the second time in the past six seasons.

The Steelers may also need to begin the search for a new head coach soon, because Bill Cowher is set to announce after this week's game whether or not he will return to Pittsburgh next season.

SERIES HISTORY

The Steelers lead the all-time regular season series with Cincinnati, 42-30, but were 28-20 home losers when the teams met in Week 3. Pittsburgh is 4-0 in regular season games played in the Queen City since last losing there in 2001, including a 27-13 win when they visited there in 2005.

The Steelers' 31-17 road win over the Bengals in last year's playoffs marked the first postseason meeting between the longtime division rivals.

Including playoffs, the road team has won the last five games in the series.

Cowher has a 21-9 record against the Bengals in his career, while Cincinnati's Marvin Lewis is 3-5 all-time against both Cowher and the Steelers.

STEELERS OFFENSE VS. BENGALS DEFENSE

For all the talk of the decline of Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger this year, it is interesting to note that Pittsburgh is ranked ninth in the NFL with 230.5 passing yards per game. That's not to say the criticism of Roethlisberger has been unwarranted, because "Big Ben" has been less than efficient this season. Roethlisberger (3,233 yards, 17 TD, 22 INT) set a career high in passing yards, tied his personal best in touchdown passes, but also set a new low in interceptions and is on the way to the worst quarterback rating (74.0) of his career. Roethlisberger, the 11th overall pick in the 2004 draft, had a difficult game last Sunday against Baltimore, as he completed just 15-of-31 passes for 156 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Part of the problem was that the Ravens' pass-rushers were able to blow by the Pittsburgh offensive line for five sacks. Santonio Holmes (45 catches, 700 yards, 1 TD) led the way with five catches for 90 yards, while fellow wideout Hines Ward (69 catches, 924 yards, 6 TD) added eight receptions for 79 yards. Tight end Heath Miller (34 catches, 393 yards, 5 TD) hauled in Roethlisberger's only TD strike of the day.

The Bengals have been terrible in terms of pass defense this season, and are ranked 31st in the NFL with 236.2 yards allowed through the air per game. They did a nice job against the Broncos last week, although the snowy conditions may have helped slow down both teams' passing games. Rookie quarterback Jay Cutler threw for 179 yards and two touchdowns, but was also intercepted once. Cincinnati's rookie defensive tackle Domata Peko (43 tackles, 2 INT) did a nice job pestering Cutler, and wound up with 1 1/2 sacks. Free safety Madieu Williams (84 tackles, 3 INT) led the secondary with six tackles, while strong safety Dexter Jackson (48 tackles, 1 1/2 sacks, 1 INT) added five stops, an interception and half-a-sack.

Pittsburgh rushing offense has not been as good this year as it has been in years past, but it hasn't been terrible either. The Steelers are 14th in the NFL with 119 rushing yards per contest, or about 20 yards less than less year's average of 138.9 yards. That being said, running back Willie Parker had an excellent season carrying the ball for the Steelers. Parker (1,360 yards, 11 TD) has rushed for over 100 yards six times this year ,and his 1,360 yards on the ground places him sixth in the NFL. However, Parker didn't have his finest game last week against the stout Ravens defense, as he gained just 29 yards on 13 carries. Roethlisberger (82 yards, 2 TD) actually led Pittsburgh last week with 33 yards on four scrambles. The Steelers managed just 63 yards rushing overall last Sunday.

The Broncos relied heavily on the ground game last Sunday against Cincinnati and were fairly successful at it, rushing for 127 total yards. Mike Bell led Denver with 69 yards and a touchdown, and Tatum Bell added 50 yards. Outside linebacker Landon Johnson (105 tackles, 1/2 sack, 1 INT) led Cincy with nine tackles, while defensive end Justin Smith (75 tackles, 7 sacks) made eight stops. In addition to contributing to the pass rush, Peko added six tackles and forced Tatum Bell to fumble the ball. The Bengals recovered that fumble and the turnover led to a Cincy touchdown. Peko's fellow defensive tackles, Sam Adams (12 tackles, 2 sacks) and John Thornton (37 tackles, 2 sacks), added three stops apiece. Overall this season, the Bengals are 12th in the NFL with 110.4 rushing yards allowed per game.

BENGALS OFFENSE VS. STEELERS DEFENSE

The snowy conditions in Denver last Sunday seemed to have an adverse effect on the usually high-powered passing attack of the Bengals. Cincinnati is fifth in the NFL with 238.8 passing yards per game, but Carson Palmer and his receivers struggled on Sunday. Palmer (3,784 yards, 26 TD, 13 INT) completed 21-of-40 passes for 209 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. His passer rating was 63.4, marking just the third time this season that Palmer had been under 75 in that category. Wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh (86 catches, 1,037 yards, 9 TD) still had a big day for the Bengals with nine receptions for 94 and a touchdown. Pro Bowl wideout Chad Johnson (83 catches, 1,316 yards, 7 TD) was held to just three catches for 32 yards in the loss.

Pittsburgh's weakness on defense this season has been its ability to defend the pass. The Steelers are ranked 17th in the NFL in passing yardage allowed this year with an average of 209.5 yards surrendered through the air every week. The Steelers did force Steve McNair into a few mistakes last week, but the Baltimore quarterback still put up some big numbers. McNair was intercepted twice, but still ended with a 98.3 QB rating on the day thanks to 256 yards and three touchdown passes. Cornerbacks Bryant McFadden (50 tackles, 3 INT) and Deshea Townsend (40 tackles, 2 sacks, 2 INT) posted the interceptions for the Steelers, and Pro Bowl strong safety Troy Polamalu (74 tackles, 1 sack, 3 INT) led the secondary with eight tackles. The Steelers are tied for seventh in the NFL with 39 sacks this season, but were unable to get any against McNair last week.

Rudi Johnson is wrapping up another solid season as the Bengals' main running option, although his team is ranked 22nd in the NFL with 105.7 rushing yards per game. Johnson (1,262 yards, 12 TD) is over 1,200 rushing yards for the third straight season, and with 138 yards this week he can reach the 1,400- yard mark for the third year in a row. The former Auburn star has also been responsible for 328 of Cincy's 419 rushing attempts this season. Johnson had a strong game in Denver last week, rambling for 129 yards and a touchdown on 30 attempts. Reserve running back Kenny Watson (138 yards, 1 TD) added 14 yards on two carries for the Bengals.

The Steelers have had one of the NFL's best rushing defenses in recent years, and that is the case once again this season. Pittsburgh is fourth in the league with just 91.2 yards rushing surrendered per contest. The Ravens managed to do a little better than that last Sunday, as they ran for 103 yards in the blowout victory. Jamal Lewis led Baltimore with 77 yards rushing, meaning Pittsburgh has gone 19 straight regular-season games without allowing a 100-yard rusher. The last time a player ran for triple digits against the Steelers was on November 28 of last season, when Edgerrin James ran for 124 yards for the Indianapolis Colts. Nose tackle Casey Hampton, a three-time Pro Bowl selection, holds things together in the middle of Pittsburgh's three-man front. Hampton (36 tackles) made four stops against the Ravens, and defensive end Aaron Smith (58 tackles, 4 1/2 sacks) led the line with eight tackles. Inside linebacker James Farrior (120 tackles, 4 sacks, 1 INT) also made eight stops for the Steelers.

OVERALL ANALYSIS

The Steelers are a proud franchise, so don't expect them to roll over this week just because they didn't make the playoffs. Then again, the Bengals would love to erase the memory of last week's strange loss with a big win to close out the season. Cincy doesn't control its destiny as far as the postseason is concerned, but still has to win this Sunday if it wants to have any chance of gaining a Wild Card berth. The Bengals will throw the ball a great deal against this Pittsburgh defense and should have success doing so. Cincinnati will come out victorious in this game, but it still may not be enough to get back to the playoffs.

Sportsbook Betting Lines Predicted Outcome: Bengals 21, Steelers 14