An all-AFC North matchup takes centre stage on Thursday Night Football.
The pregame narrative: Pittsburgh is the only team with a winning record in the division, sitting firmly at the top at 4-1. In saying that, I believe Joe Flacco and the Cincinnati Bengals are live underdogs in this game and will look to back them on an alternate spread.
Check out my Steelers vs. Bengals same-game parlay predictions for Week 7, featuring Flacco and DK Metcalf.
Steelers vs. Bengals SGP predictions
SGP: Bengals +7.5 | Metcalf over 57.5 receiving yards | Flacco 250+ passing yards (+410)
Bengals +7.5 (-177): I believe the Bengals can build off last week’s performance. Yes, they lost by nine, but they were 13.5-point underdogs in that game.
That was also on the road, whereas Thursday’s contest will be played in Cincinnati.
- The offence has been much better at home, scoring 55 points across two games.
- Flacco fits this offence better than the alternative, Jake Browning. More on Flacco later, but just know that Browning had a pitiful 6:8 TD-to-INT ratio in his time as the starter.
Flacco, the 18-year vet, is better at getting the ball to Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, which is what’s important in this offence.
Neither squad has a particularly good defence, so I have faith the Bengals can score enough to keep the game within a touchdown, if not win straight up.
Thursday Night Football SGP picks
Metcalf over 57.5 receiving yards (-112): Metcalf has been Aaron Rodgers’ favourite target through six weeks, and there’s an argument to be made that he could be even more productive.
- He has been targeted 31 times by Rodgers this season but only has 19 receptions.
- Metcalf is 3-2 against this wager and is coming off back-to-back performances of 90+ yards.
In Week 6, he was targeted a season-high nine times, but that only led to four catches.
The good news is that Metcalf doesn’t need many looks to get past this number. He’s a deep threat in this offence, demonstrated by his career-high 11.5 yards per target.
That all goes before mentioning Cincinnati’s woeful defence. The unit allows the second-most passing yards per game in the NFL (258.5).
This is a great matchup for the Steelers’ offence and Metcalf is the clear-cut WR1 for Rodgers.
Flacco 250+ passing yards (+112): The Steelers haven’t shown an ability to slow down the passing game, either.
- Pittsburgh concedes the sixth-most passing yards (245.0/game).
- Three of five starting quarterbacks to face Pittsburgh have thrown for 250+ yards.
The two QBs who fell short (Dillon Gabriel, Justin Fields) are worse arm talents than Flacco.
Fields threw for 218 yards, and Gabriel attempted 52 passes (29 completions) for 221 yards.
Flacco was servicable in his first game with Cincy, throwing for 219 yards and two touchdowns (no interceptions).
That was against the Green Bay Packers, who’ve allowed far fewer passing yards (207.2/game) than the Steelers.
The game plan should be clear. Cincy’s weak offensive line hinders the running game, and Pittsburgh struggles to defend the pass.
Steelers vs. Bengals predictions made at 9:23 a.m. on 10/15/2025.