Though the Cincinnati Bengals have gotten off to an 0-3 start, they have covered two of their first three games against the spread, both of which were one-score games on the road. The Bengals versus Pittsburgh Steelers rivalry on Monday also will be missing one of the staples from many of the matchups over the past 15 years, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
The Steelers will have Mason Rudolph making his second career start after he went 14 of 27 for 174 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception last week against the San Francisco 49ers. He has not been helped much by a running attack that is averaging 17 attempts per game, which is tied for the fewest in the NFL.
Rudolph will have to do more as the Bengals’ signal caller, Andy Dalton, entered Week 4 with the second-most passing yards in the NFL, though he has probably had to air it out a little bit too much with three interceptions.
That should not be as big of an issue against the Steelers as Pittsburgh is allowing opposing quarterbacks to complete over 74 percent of their passes, ranking 29th in the NFL in that category.
With Steelers tight end Vance McDonald questionable, it should give the Bengals a big advantage in the respective passing games.
With a Bengals offensive line that has been dealing with injuries much of the early part of the season starting to get healthy, the Bengals have a chance to pull an outright upset and are in terrific shape to stay within the number.
The Play: Bengals, +3.