5*
(NFL) Pittsburgh vs. Cincinnati, 09/16/2013 4:40 PM, Score: 10 - 20
Point Spread: 7.00 | -127.00 Pittsburgh (Away)
Result: Loss
Cincinnati will be playing in their home opener, and I expect a lot more energy and more spark out of the Steelers defense, especially in primetime on ESPN. Dalton and the offense will have to get the run game established against a Steelers defense that really answered the bell last week against the Titans running game (Titans had 42 attempts, 2.6 ypc), so it will come down to Dalton throwing the ball to move the chains. Pittsburgh is on a pretty nice ATS run against the Bengals, going 5-1 ATS , and 11-1-1 ATS in their last 13 meetings. I expect Big Ben to play well and the Pittsburgh defense to force Andy Dalton into mistakes and interceptions. Bengals are 0-3-1 in last four tries as favorite in home opener.. Over last five years, Bengals are 14-21-3 vs spread in game following a loss; over last three years, Steelers are 11-4-1 vs spread in same role. In their last 13 meetings, the Bengals have only won by more than 6 points just once, so in this divisional matchup, we'll take the +7 points with the Pittsburgh Steelers.