TNF Week 7: Steelers vs Bengals Predictions

[SBR Andy]

Week 7 of Thursday Night Football features an AFC North clash between Pittsburgh and Cincinnati.

The Steelers moved to 4-1 last week while the Bengals fell to 2-4 in Joe Flacco's first start.

Who are you backing on Thursday?

[SBR Andy]

SBR's Gary Pearson breaks down the action in his early Steelers vs Bengals prediction:

Bengals +5.5 (-104 FanDuel)

"I'm wholly uncomfortable backing the Steelers as a 5.5-point road betting favorite. It's uncharted territory for Mike Tomlin's team since the start of last season, which hasn't been a favorite of more than 3.5 points on the road in five years.

They're laying 5.5 points on the road due to an impressive 4-1 record and the Bengals' complete ineptitude throughout most of the season.

I'm not intimating that quarterback Joe Flacco is the Bengals' savior. That would be like saying Aaron Rodgers will win MVP. However, Flacco can at least feed his superstar receivers, something Jake Browning failed miserably at.

Flacco had just four days to prepare for an away game in a hostile environment with his new employer against a Green Bay Packers team that is among the Super Bowl odds contenders.

After the 40-year-old settled in, at least somewhat, he and his Bengals outscored the Packers 18-17 in the second half. Yes, there were extenuating circumstances, but I saw enough to back the wily veteran to keep things close against a Steelers team that rarely wins comfortably.

The Steelers' first comfortable victory of the season came against the lowly Cleveland Browns on Sunday, whose offense still hasn't scored more than 17 points.

I know what you're thinking: Flacco was at the helm in four of the Browns' six anemic offensive outputs.

While that's a valid point, Flacco didn't have Ja'Marr Chase or Tee Higgins at his disposal."