Cincinnati Bengals vs. Pittsburgh Steelers MNF Preview and Pick

On Monday Night Football, the Steelers—a team nobody thought would be winless three weeks into the season—will be hosting the Bengals—a team everybody thought would be winless three weeks into the season. Surprisingly for both, all is not yet lost as the AFC North has been much worse than projected. The Ravens and Browns are two and one wins ahead of these teams respectively, but both are just one QB injury away from sliding down into the dregs where Cincinnati and Pittsburgh currently find themselves in. Who begins the healing on Monday night?

Mason Rudolph is no Ben Roethlisberger

Andy Dalton gives the Bengals a slight edge at quarterback. Analysts and fans alike refer to the “Andy Dalton Line” of QB rankings. The premise is that if you are better than Andy Dalton, then you are a top half of the league guy, and if you’re worse, you’re in the bottom half. At this point in his development, Mason Rudolph is below the Andy Dalton Line. In his first full start, he went 14/27 with 174 yds, two TDs and one INT. That’s not going to win most NFL games—especially with how poorly the Steelers have been running the ball.

James Conner is averaging 2.9 YPC for the season. It might be time to better distribute carries to Benny Snell and Jaylen Samuels. The Bengals have not been any better on the ground. This has come as no surprise because, on paper, they’ve got the worst OL in the league. There is some speculation that Cordy Glenn will be available for this game. I don’t think he will play, and even if he does, don’t expect it to make an appreciable difference.

Cincinnati's D has been ravaged by injuries

Cincinnati has a lot of names from its defensive front on the injury report. This is a very important bit of news to monitor before picking a side on this game. Carlos Dunlap, Sam Hubbard, Carl Lawson, Ryan Glasgow, and Kerry Wynn are all limited practice participants. They, along with Geno Atkins and Andrew Billings, are the teeth of the Bengals’ defense. Signs are encouraging that, at the very least, Carlos Dunlap and Sam Hubbard will play.

When the Bengals have the ball, the important matchups to watch will be WRs Tyler Boyd and John Ross against the Steelers’ secondary. Joe Haden is banged up and Sean Davis is on the IR and they represent two of Pittsburgh’s better players in the back end. This will mean guys like Steven Nelson, Terrell Edmunds, Mike Hilton, Artie Burns, and newly acquired Minkah Fitzpatrick will need to step up their games and limit explosive passing plays.

I really thought the Steelers would circle the wagons and upset San Francisco last week (for their part, they did cover at least). Even with the injury to Ben Roethlisberger, I could not envision them losing their first three, and never in my wildest dreams did I think the 49ers would have FIVE turnovers and still beat Pittsburgh.

Sometimes, you lose a game and it’s just that—one game. But the loss last week was much more than one game from my betting vantage point. No other Steelers’ team in my lifetime would have dropped a game when the opponent tried so hard to hand it to them. To me, this team is no longer trustworthy—even at home against a banged up Bengals team who they have beaten eight times in a row. Hop on the roller coaster, buckle up and take the points for a wild Monday night ride.

Free pick: Bengals (+4.5)

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