Steelers at Bengals
THE STORY: The Pittsburgh Steelers took a hit to their AFC North title hopes last Sunday night when Joe Flacco’s final pass found Torrey Smith in the end zone. That pass gave the Baltimore Ravens a sweep over the Steelers in the season series and knocked them back into third place in the division. Of course, both Pittsburgh and Baltimore are currently looking up at the Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals have won five straight and have only one loss to an AFC opponent, giving them the current tiebreaker edge over Baltimore. The biggest knock on Cincinnati has been its schedule, which will get significantly harder beginning Sunday when it hosts Pittsburgh. The Steelers are fired up again after safety Ryan Clark was handed a $40,000 fine for a hit Sunday.
TV: CBS, 1 p.m. ET. LINE: Steelers -3, O/U: 41.5
ABOUT THE STEELERS (6-3): Pittsburgh has been fined more than any other team for hits on defense and has been the most outspoken against such charges, with Clark the latest to criticize Commissioner Roger Goodell. Whether Clark’s hit on Ravens wide receiver Ed Dickson was legal or not doesn’t change the fact that the Steelers’ four-game winning streak was snapped. Ben Roethlisberger has thrown for 330 or more yards in each of the past three games and is on track to break his own franchise record for yards in a season.
ABOUT THE BENGALS (6-2): Only one of Cincinnati’s wins has come over a team currently holding a winning record – a 23-20 home victory over the Buffalo Bills on Oct. 2. But the Bengals have a solid formula for success, fueled by a stingy defense and a rookie quarterback that continues to get better. Andy Dalton threw a career-high three touchdown passes last week in a 24-17 victory over the Tennessee Titans. The defense held Tennessee to 95 yards in the second half. Cincinnati still has to face both Pittsburgh and Baltimore twice as well as current AFC South leader Houston.
EXTRA POINTS:
1. Dalton’s 12 TD passes are the most through eight games for any rookie quarterback since the 1970 merger.
2. The last time Cincinnati won five straight games was 1988.
3. The Steelers have won eight of their last nine games at Cincinnati.