Prime-Time First TD Bets — Sunday Night Football, Week 16
Alex Christenson
After dropping their Week 2 contest to the Bears after their inability to get their offense going in the first half, the Bengals will turn their attention to an interdivisional foe and one of the biggest rivalries in football, the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Cincinnati Bengals vs. Pittsburgh Steelers Week 3 Odds
Date/Time: September 26, 1:00 PM
Arena: Heinz Field
How to Watch: CBS
Opening Odds: Pittsburgh -3.5 | O/U 44.0 (DraftKings Sportsbook)
Latest Bengals-Steelers Odds
Looking for the latest odds for this matchup? Here are they courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook.
- Steelers -3.5
- Total: 44.0
Opening Odds – Bengals @ Steelers
The opening odds make sense, as the Steelers are typically a dominant home team with a strong defensive unit, while the Bengals are still a rather inexperienced team with a soft front seven on both sides of the ball. With that said, I expect there to be some impactful line movement as the week goes on, contingent on the injury news surrounding both Ben Roethlisberger and Diontae Johnson.
Quarterback Analysis – Joe Burrow vs. Ben Roethlisberger
Burrow has operated with a bit less volume than initially expected this season, averaging only 28.5 attempts per game through the first two games. He’s topped a 63% completion rate in both games, throwing four total touchdowns and three interceptions, all three of which came in Week 2. With so much volume being funneled to Joe Mixon out of the backfield, Burrow may be forced to step up against a stour Steelers’ run defense. If he makes the same mistakes he did in Week 2, this could get ugly quickly.
On the opposite side of this game, there are a new group of question marks surrounding Roethlisberger, as it was reported on Tuesday that the Pittsburgh signal-caller is dealing with a left pectoral injury. Adding this to his extensive list of previous injuries, it’s very apparent that Big Ben is nearing the end. With his status up in the air for Week 3, it’s hard to bet on his offense with confidence.
Latest Bengals Betting News & Info
The focal points of this offense through two weeks have been Ja’Marr Chase and Joe Mixon. The latter has been the recipient of 49 carries through the first two games in addition to five receptions, totaling an average of 26 touches per game. That is a workhorse, plain and simple. While a small sample size, the Steelers have looked a bit worse than 2020 against the run, allowing nearly 4.7 yards per carry and five total red-zone rushing attempts.
Chase has been the phenom we all expected, scoring deep touchdowns in both of his two games while averaging 72.5 yards per game and nearly 14 yards per target. The Steelers allowed the fourth-lowest completion rate on deep targets (29%) in 2020, so Week 3 will certainly be a test for the rookie speedster.
Latest Steelers Betting News & Info
As alluded to previously, injuries are starting to plague this Steelers’ offense. In addition to Roethlisberger dealing with a left pectoral injury, star wideout Diontae Johnson suffered a knee injury late in their Week 2 contest. While it isn’t expected to sideline him for an extended time, his status for Week 3 is still up in the air.
This is a burnable Bengals secondary, as they allowed 32 passing touchdowns in 2020, the fourth-highest mark in the NFL. If Johnson is sidelined, player props for JuJu Smith-Schuster and Chase Claypool would see a spike, while we’d likely see James Washington’s 2021 debut on the prop market.
Ravens @ Lions Betting Picks – NFL Week 3
I mentioned above that I expect there to be some line movement here. That will especially be true if one or both of Diontae Johnson and Ben Roethlisberger are ruled out. Understanding that they’ll both be operating at less than 100% if they do suit up, there’s a good chance that they could struggle. Because of this, I like taking the Bengals with the points.
Here are our betting picks for Bengals @ Steelers in Week 3.
FTNBets Best Bets
- Spread: Bengals +3.5 (FanDuel Sportsbook)
- Total: no bet
For more information, betting picks, and analysis, check out the FTN NFL Bet Tracker.
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