Bengals Try To Salvage Season

NFL Odds: Steelers Can Bury Bengals on Sunday

After five straight trips to the playoffs, the Cincinnati Bengals (5-7-1 SU, 5-8 ATS) may have finally run out of gas. But they can make things very interesting this Sunday by beating the Pittsburgh Steelers, who lead the AFC North at 8-5 SU and ATS. The Bengals are 3.5-point home dogs at press time; kick-off is at 1 PM ET on CBS.

Cincinnati’s level of play has been better than their record would indicate. They have a point differential of minus-1 heading into Week 15, and they’ve played one of the tougher schedules in the league up until now. The Steelers, meanwhile, have a plus-61 point differential, which is about what you’d expect from a 10-3 team using Pythagorean wins. Their schedule hasn’t been quite as difficult as Cincinnati’s, though.

Pittsburgh could be overvalued in this situation after last week’s 27-20 victory over the Buffalo Bills (+3 at home). RB LeVeon Bell had a game for the ages, rushing for a team-record 236 yards and three touchdowns. The Bills have allowed 4.3 yards per carry this year; the Bengals have been even worse at 4.5 yards, but Bell should still find it hard to repeat his performance from Week 14.