Bengals (

22.75) at
Steelers (

19.75)

Published Sep 24, 2026 · 11:15 PM ET

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ABOUT THE WRITER

Mike Johnson has earned more than $500,000 in DFS profit across a wide range of tournament formats. He combines his background in coaching and finance with years of tournament experience to identify market inefficiencies in every matchup.

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GAME OVERVIEW ::

• The Bengals enter Week 3 with a 2-0 record behind a rejuvenated defense and balanced offense, while the Steelers beat the dysfunctional Falcons and were steamrolled by the Patriots.
• Steelers running back Rico Dowdle missed practice Wednesday and is in a boot with a toe injury that sidelined him for the second half of Week 2.
• There seems to be no end in sight for the contract dispute Pittsburgh is having with star cornerback Joey Porter Jr., which could spell trouble against the Bengals elite receivers.
• The Steelers defense leads the NFL in “Havoc Rate” and ranks fourth in “Stuff Rate,” per statrankings.com. This could pose a major challenge for a Bengals line trying to clean up protection issues after Joe Burrow was sacked five times last week.

HOW CINCINNATI WILL TRY TO WIN::

Over the past few seasons we have come to expect a few common things from the Bengals. An elite passing game. Occasionally play calling that is head scratching in how conservative it is. Below average offensive line play. A poor defense that was especially bad against the run and tight ends. Through two weeks of the 2026 season, some of those things have stayed the same while some appear to have been cleaned up. Their running game is still mediocre, while their passing game is still elite (although they haven’t had one of their vintage games yet). Their line is a middle tier unit rather than a bottom-end one we have seen in past seasons. Their run defense has been bolstered by the addition of defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence, while their pass defense continues to be strong against wide receivers but just got crushed by Dalton Schultz in Week 2.

After opening the season with two defenses that tend to be extremely argon against the run in the Bucs and Texans, the Bengals get a Steelers defense this week that just got gauged by the Patriots. It is hard to take much from Pittsburgh’s Week 1 win over the Falcons as their offense was neutered with Cooper Rush under center. The Steelers run defense profiles as an average matchup for Cincinnati that should allow them to have some offensive balance. The Bengals have been top-5 in the NFL in PROE in recent seasons and are ranked 5th once again this season. They’ll be throwing the ball plenty, with Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins at the center of those plans. Chase made a couple of big plays last week and Higgins fell just shy of 100 receiving yards. The Steelers continue to play without star cornerback Joey Porter Jr. due to a contract dispute. Without him, they are playing the 3rd lowest rate of man coverage and are blitzing and getting pressure on the QB at a bottom-10 rate. Their most frequent coverage looks have been Cover-2 and Cover-4 (“Quarters”), which are defenses designed to limit explosive plays and keep the ball in front of them. Expect another conservative defensive approach for Pittsburgh as they try to force the Bengals to march the field through sustaining drives and limiting explosive plays. This matchup calls for the Chases (Ja’Marr and Brown) to be the focal points of the offense, with Brown continuing his high usage (23 touches in both games so far) and Ja’Marr being peppered with targets in the short to intermediate areas of the field and leveraging his elite ability with the ball in his hands.

DFS+ Interpretations::

Added Sep 24, 2026 · 11:15 PM ET