Stat of the Jay: How Many Times Bengals Have Been Favored at Pittsburgh, and How Often They Have Won There at Night

Jay Morrison | Dec 30, 2024

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Jake Browning (6) takes a snap in the first quarter as the offensive line blocks during a Week 16 NFL football game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Pittsburgh Steelersl, Saturday, Dec. 23, 2023, at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pa. / Kareem Elgazzar/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

CINCINNATI – It’s not Monday Night Football, where the Cincinnati Bengals have the worst road record in league history.

But there is a road primetime game standing between the Bengals and a chance to keep their playoff hopes alive for at least another 24 hours.

The NFL announced Sunday night that the Bengals’ season-ending road trip to Pittsburgh to face the Steelers will be played Saturday night at 8 p.m.

Road primetime games have been an issue for the Bengals since before any of the current players – and several of the current coaches – were even born.

The list of teams to play 5 primetime road games in a single season in NFL history.

2024 Bengals

That's it. That's the list.

— Jay Morrison (@ByJayMorrison) December 30, 2024

Cincinnati is 10-43 in road primetime games, including 2-2 in 2024, which marks the first time in franchise history they have won more than one in a season.

Under Zac Taylor, the Bengals are 3-7 away from home at night.

In addition to beating the Dallas Cowboys in Week 14 and the New York Giants in Week 6 this year, the Bengals also knocked off the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 13 last year with Jake Browning making his second career start at quarterback.

Where does 3-7 and rank?

It’s tied for 24th with the Minnesota Vikings.

What about the flip side and where the Steelers rank in winning percentage in home primetime games?

It’s not great for the Bengals.

The Steelers are 10-3 since 2019. That .769 winning percentage ranks sixth in the league.

The Bengals actually have the second-best home winning percentage in primetime games under Taylor at .833. They are 5-1 with the lone loss coming earlier this season against the Washington Commanders (the Detroit Lions are first at 5-0).

While Cincinnati has gotten gradually better under the lights with Taylor at the helm, Pittsburgh always has been a juggernaut.

Since the 1970 merger, the Steelers are 56-19 in home primetime games. That .747 winning percentage ranks second only to the Baltimore Ravens, who are 29-9 (.763).

In head-to-head terms, Pittsburgh has owned Cincinnati in home night games, winning five in a row and going 9-2 all time.

The only times the Bengals have won at night in Pittsburgh were in 1985 and 1995.

The Steelers were 8-point favorites in the 1995 game, which the Bengals won 27-9 behind 275 passing yards and three touchdowns from Jeff Blake.

The upset, which came on a Thursday night in October, moved both teams to 3-4.

The 1985 game had the Steelers favored by 6 on a Monday night in Week 4.

The Bengals were 0-3, but Boomer Esiason threw for three touchdowns and James Brooks rushed 133 yards and two scores to lead a 37-24 upset of Chuck Noll and the Steelers, who fell to 2-2.

Saturday night, the Bengals are favored despite the Steelers being at home and owning a better record.

The line opened at 2.5 and has since increased to 3.

It's just the ninth time in 55 visits to Pittsburgh that Cincinnati has been favored.

The Bengals are 1-7 in the previous eight. The lone win came in 2022 when they were 3.5-point favorites and prevailed 37-30.

It’s just the second time the Steelers will be home underdogs in a night game against the Bengals.

They were 1.5-point favorites in 2013. Pittsburgh won 30-20 in the game where Steelers linebacker Terance Garvin broke Cincinnati punter Kevin Huber’s jaw.

Of the 56 night games this season, the road team has been favored 20 times. Those teams are 15-5 straight up and 12-8 against the spread.

The Steelers were involved in two of the five losses this year.

They lost 24-19 as a 3.5-point favorite in the snow at Cleveland in Week 14.

And they were 1.5-point home underdogs against the Jets in Week 7 when they sprung a 37-15 upset.

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