Steelers vs Bengals Best Bets for Week 1

The Pittsburgh Steelers have a divisional game against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 1. Here are the three best bets to make on this AFC North matchup.

We can now start counting the hours until the Pittsburgh Steelers kick off their 2022 season against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 1. This contest against a heated divisional opponent on the road won’t be easy. The Bengals were just a few plays from being Super Bowl champions last year, while the Steelers underwent some major changes during the 2022 offseason.

According to Fanduel Sportsbook, the Steelers are 6.5-point underdogs in Week 1 prior to kickoff. Recently, however, we predicted that Pittsburgh would cover the spread against the Bengals. Mike Tomlin’s team came out swinging in Week 1 of the 2021 season against the Buffalo Bills, and after playing his starters more than most teams during the preseason, I would expect them to do the same.

If you want to spice things up a bit this week with a little more incentive on the line, here are the best bets to consider making for the Steelers vs Bengals game in Week 1:

Best Steelers Bets Week 1

Passing yards prop bet: Joe Burrow UNDER 260.5 (-114)

The past two times these teams faced each other in 2021, Joe Burrow never surpassed 190 passing yards in either contest. This was largely because the Bengals held a comfortable lead in both games and were able to chew up the clock by running the football against a porous run defense.

Regardless, I would be a bit surprised if Burrow topped 260 passing yards in this contest. I still believe that the run defense of Pittsburgh will be more vulnerable to begin the season, and Pittsburgh’s pass rush could get Burrow a little uncomfortable in the pocket.

Alternate points total: UNDER 48.5 (-185)

Oddsmakers at Fanduel Sportsbook set the over/under for this game exactly where I would have — right at 44.5 points. While I don’t like betting on the original point total, I really like taking the ‘under’ in the alternate total of 48.5 points.

Though the Bengals scored 41 against the Steelers in Week 12 last year, I see much more of a defensive struggle for both teams early in the season as they shake off the rust. The first content between these two in 2021 went for just 34 combined points. I feel really comfortable betting the under in this alternate point total.

Alternate spread: Pittsburgh Steelers +5.5 (+100)

My final prediction for this game is 24-20 Steelers, so I have Pittsburgh covering the original spread of +6.5 (-114). However, you can get a significant odds boost if you go with an alternate spread of +5.5 (+100). While Week 1 can be hard to predict at times, I do think the Steelers defense does enough to keep this within a one-score game and they could surprise a lot of NFL analysts this week with the fight they put up against the Bengals.