Pittsburgh Steelers (6-2) at Cincinnati Bengals (6-2)
Sunday, 8:20 p.m. ET
FanDuel: Bengals -3.5, total: 49.5
Series Rewind: The Steelers have won five of the past seven meetings, including a 30-27 home win on Sept. 27 when Chris Boswell booted a tiebreaking 33-yard field goal. Pittsburgh has scored 30 or more points in six of the last eight meetings, while Cincinnati has scored 20 or fewer points in five of the eight during the span.
Both teams have won four consecutive games and the winner takes over the solo lead in the AFC North. This game could potentially become an offensive showcase as Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow and Pittsburgh’s Aaron Rodgers each threw three touchdown passes in the earlier meeting. Burrow is one of the midseason leaders in the MVP race and he leads the NFL with 23 touchdown passes and is second in passing yardage (2,386), trailing only Green Bay’s Jordan Love, who has played one more contest. Burrow has thrown 16 touchdown passes and rushed for two scores during the Cincinnati winning streak. Ja’Marr Chase is having another big season with 53 catches for 647 yards and seven touchdowns but Tee Higgins (fifth in the NFL with 758) has more yards to go with 48 catches and six scores. The Steelers will look to slow down the Bengals with a defense that is tied for fourth in scoring defense (18.0) and stands seventh in total defense (305.6). Pittsburgh is third in defending the run (83.9) but Cincinnati isn’t going to worry too deeply about that as it ranks 30th in rushing (85.6) and revolves around Burrow’s arm. Rodgers has passed for 1,871 yards and 13 touchdowns against six interceptions. He has thrown six scoring passes during the winning streak but only one over the past two weeks. Jaylen Warren continues to have a career season and ranks sixth in the NFL with 704 rushing yards. He matched his career high of 143 yards in last week’s 27-6 win over the Cleveland Browns for his fourth 100-yard outing of the season. Star linebacker T.J. Watt had two sacks and is tied for fourth in the NFL with 7.5.