The AFC North division-leading Pittsburgh Steelers (11-2) travel to Cincinnati to tackle the last the place division rival Bengals (2-10-1) in Week 15 Monday Night Football. Bettors are expecting the Steelers to pile on against an inferior for and snap their 2-game losing streak. A Steelers win secures the AFC North division title, and keeps them in front of the Bills for the No. 2 seed in the upcoming AFC playoffs. 

The Steelers have beaten the Bengals 11 straight times. Is the huge point spread the great equalizer when betting this division game? The line opened -12.5 and both sharps and now public bettors are piling on the Steelers. 

At the leading online sportsbooks, more than 70% of the spread bets and money is on the Steelers, although a consensus at SportsInsights shows closer to a 60/40 percent split favoring the Steelers with some later support on Cincinnati taking 14 or 14.5 points. After playing three games in 11 days and suffering a pair of losses and three straight ATS losses for bettors, the Steelers will catch the right opponent to lock up the division. 

Monday Night Football Odds 

Steelers: -14.5 (BetOnline) and -14 (William Hill) 
Total: 40 and 40.5 
Moneyline: Steelers -1150, Bengals +725 

Can the Damaged and Dysfunctional Bengals Pull a Historic Upset? 

The Bengals quarterback play has been abysmal without injured rookie QB Joe Burrow, and now second-year signal-caller Ryan Finley will start after Brandon Allen hurt his knee against the Cowboys. Cincinnati is not going to pull a historic upset as NFL home teams rarely take back a price of 14 or more points as underdog. 

The Bengals team total in this contest is 13 at William Hill. 

Cincinnati is averaging 319 yards per game this season, but just 220 yards per game over their last three contests playing without QB Joe Burrow. In fact, the Bengals have not reached 200 yards total offense in two of their last three games against the Dolphins and Giants, and have had eight turnovers during that stretch. 

The Bengals offense averages just 4.8 yards per play, which is better than only the NY Jets in pro football. 

Don't expect a historic upset like the Jets (+17) pulled over the Rams yesterday, 23-20. I had to hold on to cash an 'under' 44.5 bet despite the two teams offenses gaining just 289 and 303 yards offense with well below average yards per play. The Jets led 13-3 at halftime, and I missed a good middle halftime bet on the 'over'. 

ESPN Stats & Information showed underdogs of 17-plus points won only three times from 1978-2017. Yet, the Jets upset produced the third big 'Dog straight up winner for the third straight season, and also cost many remaining survivor pool bettors their chance to win. ESPN also reported that in September, a bettor placed a $100 wager on the Jets to win their first game in Week 15 against the Rams at 120-1. That bet won $12,000. 

At William Hill, the Rams and Jets game was the least bet contest in Week 15, and only 6% of the total dollars wagered on the moneyline were on the Jets. The largest reported money-line bets on the Jets at William Hill sportsbooks were $250 and $200, each at 11-1.  

Steelers Poor ATS Results as Road Favorites 

Our contacts at Bet Labs and the Action Network reports that the Steelers have been a poor road favorite under head coach Mike Tomlin, who is a motivator and seemingly gets his team to perform better in bigger games and especially as an underdog (not against the Patriots). 

On the road as a favorite against sub-.500 teams, Tomlin is 16-29 ATS with a push. That's the worst betting results for a coach in that situation since 2003 per the Bet Labs database. Also, as a double-digit favorite, Tomlin led Steelers are just 13-21 ATS.  

Still, the Steelers buried the Bengals 36-10 in Week 10 when Joe Burrow played for the Bengals. Big Ben had 333 net passing yards, but the running game was poor again with just 44 rushing yards on 20 carries. Roethlisberger passed 46 times that game, and the match-up against a vulnerable Bengals secondary suggests more passing success Monday night. The temperature in Cincinnati at Paul Brown Stadium will be mid-40s with winds from 10-14 MPH. 

The Steelers offense is below average at 335 yards per game and just 294 per game over their last three contests. 

While the Steelers defense is legit and leads the AFC allowing just 303 yards per game and 4.9 yards per play, it should be noted that Pittsburgh's defense has played against seven backup quarterbacks this season (includes Eagles Wentz, who is now backup). 

Monday Night Football Popular Prop Bets 

While the point spread a total suggests a lopsided and lower-scoring game, bettors turn to player props and the popular first player to score a touchdown. Props offered at William Hill sportsbook below, but for the more player prop options including specific yardage props at various odds, check out SportsBetting.ag. 

Steelers 

QB Ben Roethlisberger 
Passing Yards: O/U 276.5 

WR Chase Claypool 
Pass Receptions: O/U 3.5 

WR JuJu Smith-Schuster 
Pass Reception Yards: O/U 58.5 

Bengals 

QB Ryan Finley 
Passing Yards: O/U 186.5 

RB Giovani Bernard 
Rushing Yards: O/U 27.5 

WR Tyler Boyd 
Pass Reception Yards: O/U 49.5 

Steelers running back James Connor was limited in practice Thursday and Friday with a quad injury, and his official status won’t be known until closer to game time at 5:20 p.m. ET. He’s likely to play, and there is some risk with his health, but if he doesn’t go you can see if select online sportsbooks post rushing yards for Benny Snell. 

Connor’s rushing yards has been bet and is at 46.5 at select online sportsbooks that currently offer the prop. Connor has three 100-plus rushing yard games, but has only surpassed this 46.5 rushing yards in three of his last six games. The Steelers and Bengals are bottom three in the league in rushing with both averaging near 90 rushing yards per game. But this looks like a game coach Tomlin will also want to reestablish the running game and balance the offense with Connor in line for double-digit carries and more yards if you decide to bet into a rising number. Recall in Week 12 at home the Bengals allowed the Giants putrid NFC-worst offense to run the ball 42 times for 142 yards. 

UPDATE: BetOnline reports on Twitter that James Connor has been ruled out for the MNF game vs. Bengals.

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger led the league in passing attempts into Week 15 with 521. 

The Steelers are -220 to score first while the Bengals are +190.

First touchdown scorer favorites are RB James Connor (+600), WR Ju Ju Smith-Schuster (+800), WR Diontae Johnson (+800), WR Chase Claypool (+850), RB Benny Snell (+850), WR James Washington (+1200), TE Eric Ebron (+1200) and RB Giovanni Bernard (+1200), WR Tyler Boyd (+1700), WR AJ Green (+1800). No touchdown scored +6000 (semi ridiculous, and even BetMGM has +10000, but BetMGM player odds to score first are worse across the board). 

While we had a underdog winner in Week 15 Thursday prime time game on the Chargers, I don't see such an opportunity in this Monday night match-up. I didn’t bet the side, total or moneyline, but if you do and are late to the party on the Steelers, you still have options of laying -14 or -8 in the first half at the leading online sportsbooks. I would lean under the total, which can also be had in the first half at 20.5.  

FairwayJay is a leading national sports handicapper and is recognized as one of the sports industry's most insightful analysts. Read more great insights from Jay and follow him on Twitter: @FairwayJay