Steelers vs. Bengals NFL Betting Picks - Preview

Steelers vs. Bengals NFL Betting Picks: A win over the Pittsburgh Steelers earlier this season put the Cincinnati Bengals on the national radar as legitimate playoff contenders. Another victory over the defending Super Bowl champs will put them in the driver's seat to win the AFC North for the first time in four years.

The Bengals look to sweep the regular-season series over the Steelers for the first time in more than a decade when they visit Heinz Field on Sunday.

Cincinnati has won six of seven, including a 23-20 upset of Pittsburgh on Sept. 27 on a touchdown pass from Carson Palmer to Andre Caldwell with 14 seconds remaining. The Steelers haven't lost since their visit to Cincinnati, and are tied with the Bengals for the division lead with 6-2 records.

While a Bengals win this weekend would give them a sweep of the season series for the first time since 1998, and put them in control of the North, Palmer tried to keep this matchup in perspective.

"It's a game," he said. "We're not going to look too far ahead of who's on the schedule, who's left, worry about playoff implications, worry about home-field advantage. We don't need to be thinking about any of those things. ... They're in a must-win situation. We feel we're in a must-win situation."

Pittsburgh has regrouped by winning five in a row since that loss - aided by the return of Pro Bowl safety Troy Polamalu, who missed the earlier matchup with the Bengals due to a knee injury. The Steelers are 4-0 this season with Polamalu, including a 28-10 win at Denver on Monday night in which he intercepted his third pass.

"To me he's one of the best players in the game, and when you add that guy you're only going to get better," Palmer said.

Palmer and the Bengals are looking to improve to 5-0 against division rivals after beating Baltimore 17-7 last Sunday. Palmer threw for 224 yards and one touchdown while Cedric Benson recorded his fourth 100-yard rushing game of the season, finishing with 117 yards and a score on 21 carries.

The defense, meanwhile, gave up a season-low 215 yards total offense. More at CBS Sports Read More!

New England Patriots in the NFL

The league has clearly been stratified this year—there are the top contenders, and then there's everyone else. We have a bevy of teams that are just plain horrible: the Titans, Browns, Bucs, Chiefs, Rams, Redskins, Raiders, and Lions are all haplessly running out the clock at this point.
Pundits everywhere are decrying the blowouts and questioning what can be done.
Why does this matter to the Patriots? Well, the team has been on the winning side of some awfully lopsided games. Since the team is part of the NFL's current ruling class, it behooves fans to know when guillotine sales go up.
Successful teams should listen very closely whenever there is talk of leveling the playing field.
What complicates matters is the current collective bargaining agreement talks between the NFL and the players' union. This means the league would be ideally positioned to launch a large, system-altering change like the salary cap and free agency.
I believe, though, that a substantial change to the way the league is set up is unlikely.
When you look at the league's changes over the years, they have always intended to right a tangible wrong: free agency took away a team's ability to control a player's career, and the salary cap prevented the sort of payroll disparity we currently see in baseball.
What, then, would be the tangible wrong in today's NFL?
The teams mentioned earlier aren't there because they lack the money to compete, or because players are unavailable. No, those teams are currently losing because they have been mismanaged over several years (with the exception of the Titans, whose downfall this year has been unexpected).
Their personnel staffs have evaluated players incorrectly. Their front offices have signed ill-advised, cap-killing deals. They've likely had a revolving door at the coaching positions, each new one seeking to implement his own system (and consequently resulting in a whole lot of mismatched pieces).
Teams like the Pats, Colts, and Steelers succeed because they evaluate talent well, properly manage their caps, and have stable coaching situations.
How, then, could the problem be fixed? The league doesn't (and shouldn't) have the power to completely reshape noncompeting teams.
The NFL has spent years protecting teams from those factors typically blamed for imbalance, but it has finally found one that cannot be solved easily: organizational incompetence.
Perhaps things are as they should be—well-run teams (like the Pats, Colts, and Steelers) are seeing their foresight rewarded. Poorly-run teams are performing miserably.
Perhaps imbalance is the natural state of things.
That won't stop people from bemoaning 59-0 games, though. Read More!

NFL Power Rakings Week 10

NFL Power Rankings Week 10

For Week 9 there three teams with all wins. but now Vikings has lost a match and Saints, Colts continued their winning performances in the 2009 NFL season. For NFL Power Rankings on Week 10. the two teams are at top of the chart . Where as Denver Broncos, Benglas, Steelers, Cardnilas, Patriots are the follwers in NFL Power Rankings Week 10.
Vikings, Falcons, Eagles, Gaints are not at a good position, but still they are in my Week 10 Power Rankings. We will have our Complete Week 10 NFL Power Rankings by tomorrow. Read More!

NFL power rankings Week 9 - NFL Betting

The results of the Saints vs Falcons Monday night NFL game are still pending but ourweek 9 NFL power rankings are ready to go.

The week 9 NFL power rankings are set and we are assuming that the undefeated Saints are going to be able to get past the Falcons in the Monday night game. If the Falcons manage to pull off the upset then we’ll adjust our week 9 NFL power rankings but it doesn’t appear they have much of a shot against the Saints with New Orleans currently favored by 12 points on the spread

We will go with the top 10 on the week 9 NFL power rankings for now and will provide a complete list of all 32 teams after the Monday night matchup.

The week 9 NFL power rankings top 10:

1.New Orleans Saints
2. Indanapolis Colts
3. New England Patriots
4. Minnesota Vikings
5. Dallas Cowboys
6. Philadelphia Eagles
7. Cincinnati Bengals
8. Pittsburgh Steelers
9. Denver Broncos
10. Baltimore Ravens

New Orleans gets the top spot in the week 9 NFL power rankings after the Colts struggled badly and looked off against the 49ers while the Eagles and Cowboys have been playing impressive football the last two weeks. The top 4 of the week 9 NFL power rankings could very well be a playoff preview with none showing many signs of weakness. Read More!

NFL Week 6 Expert Picks – Cleveland Browns vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

It’s been downright ugly for the Steelers since their Super Bowl victory. They won a narrow game over the Titans to open the season, but then lost Troy Polamalu…up until today. The hard hitting Samoan safety is back after injuring his knee and that means that this Steelers defense can regain the identity it has lost in the fourth quarter.

The Steelers have been getting beaten down on the betting line by going 1-4 ATS this season, and pushing the OVER three times already. That’s the bad news. The good news is that with Polamalu healthy again, their defense won’t give up in the fourth quarter like it has against Detroit, San Diego and Cincinnati in recent weeks. The Steelers are 8-2-1 ATS in their last 11 against Cleveland, a trend you can certainly bank on this weekend.

Cleveland Browns (1-4) vs. Pittsburgh Steelers (3-2)

Sunday, October 18th
Heinz Field, Pittsburgh — 1:00pm EST

NFL Betting Line: Pittsburgh -14 (38)

The Browns are an absolute embarrassment right now. It doesn’t matter if Brady Quinn or Derek Anderson is under center because they both suck, and they both have nobody to throw to. With Kellen Winslow emerging as a top tight-end in Tampa, and Braylon catching miracles in New York, the Browns have left their receiving corps to a bunch of no names that only an idiot like Eric Mangini would want. Against Buffalo, they had two receptions last weekend. Two for the entire team!

The Browns never play well on the road, which their 1-5 ATS record in 6 road efforts will testify. Take the Steelers, don’t be scare of the points, and watch Pittsburgh push the OVER all by themselves.

Furious Free Pick: Pittsburgh -14 (OVER) Read More!