Bengals Join Rare Company as Huge Home Underdogs
CINCINNATI — The Bengals are 14-point home underdogs to the Steelers on Monday night.
Cincinnati enters the matchup with a 2-10-1 record. They've lost five straight games.
Pittsburgh is 11-2 on the season. They've lost back-to-back games after getting off to an 11-0 start.
The Bengals will be the 12th team to be a home underdog of at least 14-points or more in the past decade.
Only five of the previous 11 favorites covered the spread in those games.
It's easy to see why the betting line is so high for this matchup. The Bengals' rivalry with the Steelers has been extremely one-sided over the past five seasons.
Pittsburgh has one 11-straight games over Cincinnati, which includes one postseason win.
The Steelers beat the Bengals 36-10 in Week 10 this season. That was before star rookie quarterback Joe Burrow suffered a season-ending knee injury.
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Veteran Brandon Allen (knee) is also out this week, which means second-year quarterback Ryan Finley will make his first start of the season.
The drop off from Burrow to Allen was steep, but the Bengals' potential drops that much more with their third quarterback under center.
This is the second-largest underdog line for a Bengals home game. They were a 15-point home underdog against Dallas in 1994.
Cincinnati has lost eight of their last nine games. They're 0-4 against the AFC North this season.
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