Game Preview - Week 13: Cincinnati Bengals at Pittsburgh Steelers

Cincinnati: Chad Johnson got in the endzone last week for the first time since week 2 as the Bengals took care of the Titans with ease. They'll face a tough task this week going up against the Steelers defense that ranks first in points allowed (13.2) and first in passing yards allowed (152). On the flip side, Carson Palmer seems to be returning to form averaging 288 yards and 1.75 TDs over his last four games. Rudi Johnson carried the ball 25 times last week (88 yards, 1 TD) an encouraging sign that his hamstring injury is fully healed. Kenny Watson has been limited in practice this week meaning Johnson may see the bulk of the carries against the Steelers.

Start: QB Carson Palmer, WR Chad Johnson, WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh
Consider: RB Rudi Johnson, K Shayne Graham
Sit: RB Kenny Watson, Bengals D/ST, TE Reggie Kelley

Pittsburgh: The Steelers nearly became the laughing stock of the NFL last week but they managed to squeak out a victory over the hapless Dolphins 3-0. We hope for better conditions at Heinz field this week when the schizophrenic Bengals come to town. The Steelers have won four of their last five including a 24-13 victory over the Bengals in week eight. Roethlisberger threw for 230 yards and 2 TDs while Willie Parker rushed for 126 yards and 1 TD on 22 carries. An interesting note here… Pittsburgh has only lost ten games at home since since 2003, but three of those losses came to Cincinnati. The Steelers top-ranked defense should get the job done here but calling division rivalry games is tricky. By the way, rain is in the forecast for Sunday in Pittsburgh.

Start: QB Ben Roethlisberger, RB Willie Parker, WR Hines Ward, TE Heath Miller
Consider: Steelers D/ST, K Jeff Reed
Sit: WR Santonio Holmes, WR Cedrick Wilson, WR Nate Washington

Krueger's Rankings/Projections

Cincinnati Bengals
Rank	Player	Projections
QB 14	Carson Palmer	Pass: 230, 2 Rush: 0, 0
RB 26	Rudi Johnson	Rush: 60, 0 Rec: 1-5, 0
RB 42	Kenny Watson	Rush: 15, 0 Rec: 3-20, 0
WR 7	Chad Johnson	Rec: 6-80, 1
WR 9	T.J. Houshmandzadeh	Rec: 6-75, 1
WR 31	Chris Henry	Rec: 3-40, 0
TE 31	Reggie Kelly	Rec: 1-10, 0

Pittsburgh Steelers
Rank	Player	Projections
QB 12	Ben Roethlisberger	Pass: 240, 2 Rush: 0, 0
RB 4	Willie Parker	Rush: 110, 1 Rec: 1-10, 0
WR 15	Hines Ward	Rec: 6-85, 1
WR 58	Nate Washington	Rec: 3-40, 0
WR 60	Cedrick Wilson	Rec: 3-40, 0
TE 11	Heath Miller	Rec: 4-45, 1

View all Week 13 Rankings or Projections

Past Results and Remaining Schedule

Cincinnati Bengals
Week	Date	Opp	H/A	Score	Dif
1	2007-09-10	BAL	H	W 27-20	+7
2	2007-09-16	CLE	A	L 45-51	-6
3	2007-09-23	SEA	A	L 21-24	-3
4	2007-10-01	NE	H	L 13-34	-21
5		Bye
6	2007-10-14	KC	A	L 20-27	-7
7	2007-10-21	NYJ	H	W 38-31	+7
8	2007-10-28	PIT	H	L 13-24	-11
9	2007-11-04	BUF	A	L 21-33	-12
10	2007-11-11	BAL	A	W 21-7	+14
11	2007-11-18	ARI	H	L 27-35	-8
12	2007-11-25	TEN	H	W 35-6	+29
13	2007-12-02	PIT	A	L 10-24	-14
14	2007-12-09	STL	H
15	2007-12-15	SF	A
16	2007-12-23	CLE	H
17	2007-12-30	MIA	A

Pittsburgh Steelers
Week	Date	Opp	H/A	Score	Dif
1	2007-09-09	CLE	A	W 34-7	+27
2	2007-09-16	BUF	H	W 26-3	+23
3	2007-09-23	SF	H	W 37-16	+21
4	2007-09-30	ARI	A	L 14-21	-7
5	2007-10-07	SEA	H	W 21-0	+21
6		Bye
7	2007-10-21	DEN	A	L 28-31	-3
8	2007-10-28	CIN	A	W 24-13	+11
9	2007-11-05	BAL	H	W 38-7	+31
10	2007-11-11	CLE	H	W 31-28	+3
11	2007-11-18	NYJ	A	L 16-19	-3
12	2007-11-26	MIA	H	W 3-0	+3
13	2007-12-02	CIN	H	W 24-10	+14
14	2007-12-09	NE	A
15	2007-12-16	JAC	H
16	2007-12-20	STL	A
17	2007-12-30	BAL	A

Offense Stats Comparison

	CIN Offense	PIT Offense	NFL Average
Points for	26.0	24.8	21.7
Rushing yards	95.3	120.0	105.5
Rushing yards per attempt	3.47	3.71	3.89
Completion %	72.1%	69.3%	61.7%
Passing yards	255.8	206.0	217.2
Passing yards per completion	10.01	10.76	10.45
Passing yards per attempt	7.22	7.46	6.45
Interceptions	0.8	1.0	1.0
Fumbles lost	0.3	0.3	0.8
Sacked	0.8	4.0	2.2

Note: Team statistics are shown as the average per game through Weeks 7 to 12 of the 2007 season after deducting the best and worst value from the data set. The exception is yards per rush attempt, completion %, yards per pass completion, yards per pass attempt and the NFL averages, which are each calculated based on totals through Weeks 7 to 12 with no adjustment.

Defense Stats Comparison

	CIN Defense	PIT Defense	NFL Average
Points against	23.8	16.8	21.7
Rushing yards	92.8	73.5	105.5
Rushing yards per attempt	3.88	3.62	3.89
Completion %	66.0%	58.0%	61.7%
Passing yards	234.5	146.0	217.2
Passing yards per completion	11.79	8.17	10.45
Passing yards per attempt	7.77	4.74	6.45
INT return	1.0	0.5	1.0
Fumble recoveries	0.5	1.0	0.8
Sacks	1.5	2.3	2.2

Weather

Check the current weather forecast for Pittsburgh from Weather.com.

Team vs. Team History

Cincinnati Bengals vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
Season	Week	Date	Vis	Home	Score	Winner
2000	7	2000-10-15	CIN	PIT	0-15	PIT
2000	13	2000-11-26	PIT	CIN	48-28	PIT
2001	4	2001-10-07	CIN	PIT	7-16	PIT
2001	16	2001-12-30	PIT	CIN	23-26	CIN
2002	6	2002-10-13	PIT	CIN	34-7	PIT
2002	12	2002-11-24	CIN	PIT	21-29	PIT
2003	3	2003-09-21	PIT	CIN	17-10	PIT
2003	13	2003-11-30	CIN	PIT	24-20	CIN
2004	4	2004-10-03	CIN	PIT	17-28	PIT
2004	11	2004-11-21	PIT	CIN	19-14	PIT
2005	7	2005-10-23	PIT	CIN	27-13	PIT
2005	13	2005-12-04	CIN	PIT	38-31	CIN
2005	WC	2006-01-08	PIT	CIN	31-17	PIT
2006	3	2006-09-24	CIN	PIT	28-20	CIN
2006	17	2006-12-31	PIT	CIN	23-17	PIT
2007	8	2007-10-28	PIT	CIN	24-13	PIT

Note: Only playoff games from the 2004 to 2006 seasons are included in the team vs. team history. Playoff games from seasons prior to 2004 are not currently included in the database.

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