The Cincinnati Bengals aim to keep their playoff hopes alive on Saturday against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The pregame narrative: Cincinnati needs a win, and Pittsburgh is on a three-game losing streak. Still, I’ll tease the Steelers to +7.5 underdogs at home. Player prop bets on Joe Burrow, George Pickens and Jaylen Warren round out this +375 wager.
Check out my Bengals vs. Steelers same-game parlay predictions for the game on Jan. 4.
Bengals vs. Steelers same-game parlay predictions
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Parlay: Steelers +7.5 + Burrow 250+ passing yards + Pickens 70+ receiving yards + Warren 30+ rushing yards (+375)
Steelers +7.5 (-305): The Steelers entered Week 15 with a 10-3 record and a stranglehold on the AFC North. Since then, they’ve lost three straight while being outscored 90-30.
So why do I want to back this potentially fraudulent team?
In Pittsburgh’s defence, the losses were to the Philadelphia Eagles, Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs — three of the top-five teams on the Super Bowl odds board.
Mike Tomlin’s group has beaten up on bad teams this season, and the Bengals are a bad team.
Cincinnati is on a four-game winning streak, but its only win over serious competition in that span came in overtime last week against the Denver Broncos.
Before that, the Bengals had lost their last seven games against teams that currently hold a winning record. That includes a 44-38 loss to the Steelers in Cincinnati earlier this year.
Other parlay picks
Burrow 250+ passing yards (-315): Burrow’s numbers are out of this world. We’re talking MVP-calibre stats across the board:
- 4,641 passing yards (1st in NFL)
- 42 passing touchdowns (1st in NFL)
- 250+ passing yards in eight straight games
Part of the reason they’re so gaudy is because Cincinnati is always playing from behind. But part of it is just because he’s a damn good player who has an elite receiving corps.
I expect Pittsburgh’s offence to wake up against Cincinnati’s No. 29-ranked scoring defence. That should force the Bengals into a pass-happy attack.
Burrow put up 309 passing yards against Pittsburgh in Week 13 and is averaging 331 passing yards in his last eight games.
Pickens 70+ receiving yards (-104): This leg really drives up the SGP’s price.
Pickens was largely ineffective in his return from a three-game absence. He caught 3-of-7 targets for 50 yards against the Chiefs on Christmas, and 41 of those came on one play.
However, his numbers before that were encouraging. Check out Pickens’ stats in the previous six games with Russell Wilson under centre:
- 4.8 receptions/game
- 7.7 targets/game
- 81.2 yards/game
Pickens cleared this line in five of those contests and logged 74 yards against the Bengals. And last year, he torched Cincinnati for 195 yards and two touchdowns with Mason Rudolph throwing him the ball.
Warren 30+ rushing yards (-265): It looks like all the tread is off Najee Harris’ tires. That should put Warren in a position to be the team’s RB1 heading into the postseason.
But Tomlin likes to split carries between the backs, so I’ll tease down his yardage total significantly.
Warren has out-snapped Harris (not by much) in four consecutive games, clearing this line three times. He most recently turned 11 carries into 71 yards against a stout Chiefs front.
Cincinnati allows 4.5 yards per rush (20th) and I expect Warren to rumble.
Picks made at 2:00 p.m. on 01/02/25.
Avery joined NorthStar Gaming as an intern in 2022 before stepping into a full-time role soon after. He loves betting on and analyzing golf — mainly because it’s easier than actually playing — but is a fan of all sports, from the NFL to the UFC.