NFL Football Betting - Monday Night Football Preview
Monday, November 08, 2010
by BetUS.com
Cincinnati Bengals, which swept both meetings with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2009, is on a four-game slide heading into Week 9’s showdown on Monday Night Football.
The NFL Football betting odds have the host Bengals set as 5-point underdogs at Paul Brown Stadium.
Cincinnati is 2-5 straight up and against the spread, and is coming off a tough loss to the Dolphins last Sunday.
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The Cincinnati Bengals were blanked in the second half by the Dolphins' defense to lose 22-14 as 1-point home pups.
The Pittsburgh Steelers are also coming off a defeat, dropping a tight 20-10 game to the Saints as 1.5-point underdogs in the Superdome in Week 8. That loss dropped Pittsburgh to 5-2 with a 4-3 mark against the NFL pointspreads and had it tied with the Ravens for the division lead.
The Steelers can erase the Bengals’ hopes of a second straight AFC North title with a victory Monday. Pittsburgh will turn to its top-ranked defense to get the job done. It sits first in the league in points allowed, giving up just over two touchdowns per game, and boasts the stingiest rushing defense in the NFL, budging for just under 59 yards on the ground an outing.
That stout run stop has opponents forfeiting their ground gameplan. Against the Saints in Week 8, New Orleans totaled only 30 yards on 21 carries. The weekend before, the Steelers held Miami to 64 rushing yards on 21 attempts.
The inability to move the ball with the run has opposing teams looking to the air against Pittsburgh. The team has the 25th-ranked pass defense in the NFL, giving up 243 yards per game, but has also faced a total of 266 pass attempts this year – fourth most in the AFC. Remarkably, the Steelers have allowed just six passing touchdowns while picking off 10 passes.
Turnovers have plagued the Cincinnati offense, especially quarterback Carson Palmer. He has thrown seven interceptions on the year, equaling his offensive output of seven touchdowns despite having wide receivers Chad Ochocinco and Terrell Owens on the wings.
The Bengals do rank sixth in passing, with 254 yards a game, but mostly due to the fact that their rushing attack is struggling to pick up gains on the ground and has only scored two touchdowns in seven games. Running back Cedric Benson was hit and miss versus Pittsburgh last year, putting up 76 yards and a score in Week 3 and just 22 yards in Week 10.
The Steelers will more than likely turn to their rushing attack against a weak Cincinnati defense. The Bengals, who are giving up over 120 yards per game on the ground, will see plenty of Pittsburgh’s Rashard Mendenhall. The third-year back is 10th in the NFL in rushing and has found the end zone six times while running for 4.1 yards per carry.
Mendenhall, who was slowed by injuries in 2009, didn’t rush for big numbers against Cincinnati last season, totaling only 36 yards on 13 carries in a Week 10 loss. Last week against New Orleans he rumbled for 71 yards and a score, marking the fifth game he has found paydirt this season.
Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger continues to shake off the rust of his early-season suspension. Roethlisberger passed for 195 yards and an interception in Week 8, but is averaging 251 yards with a completion percentage of 63.4 in his first three games under center.
Heading into his fourth game, Roethlisberger and his receivers should catch up to each other. Top receiver Mike Wallace, who has caught a touchdown pass in two of Roethlisberger’s first three games back, and fellow wideouts Hines Ward and Antwaan Randle El are expecting bigger things in Week 9. Roethlisberger, a native of Ohio, always puts on a show in his home state, posting an 11-2 record against Ohio teams.
Monday’s NFL betting total is set at 41 points. Pittsburgh is 3-4 on the over/under while Cincinnati is 4-3 on the over/under this season. These teams have played over the number in six of their last 10 meetings, but the under has cashed in six of the Bengals’ last eight homestands.
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antwaan randle el - ben roethlisberger - carson palmer - cedric benson - chad ochocinco - cincinnati bengals - hines ward - mike wallace - monday night football - nfl betting
