MNF Cincinnati Bengals At Pittsburgh Steelers: All You Need To Know

Game information:

Where: Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

When: Monday, September 30

Time/Channel: 8:15 PM ET/ESPN

Weather: Day: 84 F, Night: 64 F

Spread: Steelers -4

Total: 43.5

Moneyline: Steelers -200, Bengals +175

Bengals @ Steelers, 8:15 PM ET:

Both the Cincinnati Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers are seeking their first win of the season on Monday night.

Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton threw for 250 yards and one touchdown with two interceptions and running back Joe Mixon had 15 carries for 60 yards and two catches for 34 yards and a score, but Cincinnati fell 21-17 to the Bills in Buffalo.

The Bengals rush defense allowed Bills running back Frank Gore to pile up 76 yards on 14 carries, good enough for 5.4 yards per carry, with one touchdown.

The Steelers are also in a desperate situation after falling to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 3.

Mason Rudolph, who replaced the injured Ben Roethlisberger at quarterback for Pittsburgh, completed only 14 of 27 passes for 174 yards and two touchdowns.

The newly-acquired Minkah Fitzpatrick had a fantastic debut for the Steelers as he came away with an interception, forced fumble and five tackles in the loss.

The most alarming statistic in that football game? The Steelers forced five turnovers of the 49ers, four times in the first half and then lost a fumble again in the fourth quarter, and they still managed to lose in Rudolph’s first career start.

Both the Bengals and Steelers are super desperate in this game.

Bengals Fantasy Star

Tyler Boyd, WR

With All-Pro wide receiver AJ Green still out nursing an ankle injury, the Bengals have relied on Tyler Boyd and John Ross III to pick up the slack in his absence.

Without Green in the lineup, there is no doubt that Boyd is the No. 1 target for Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton.

Boyd has 24 receptions this season on 33 targets, compared to Ross’ 13 catches on 26 targets. Ross, however, has 42 more receiving yards and three touchdowns. Boyd, on the other hand, had no touchdowns through three games.

With all of that said, I’m here to tell you that Boyd will score a touchdown in this game and prove that he is the wide receiver you want to own in Cincinnati.

In Week 2 against the San Francisco 49ers, Boyd had 10 receptions for 122 yards, good enough for 12.2 yards per catch, and last week against the Bills, Boyd was targeted 11 times and he had six catches for 68 yards.

The targets are there, which means Boyd will produce.

Steelers Fantasy Star

James Conner, RB

I’m here to answer the question everybody is asking: What happened to James Conner?!

In most fantasy football drafts this season, Conner was drafted somewhere in the first two rounds and he has been below average so far through three games.

Conner has 34 carries for only 97 rushing yards (2.9 yards per carry), he has one rushing touchdown and one costly fumble that came in the game against the 49ers.

Listen, if there’s a game where Conner is going to bounce back, it’s this one against the Bengals.

Cincinnati is currently 31st in the NFL in rush defense. The Bengals allowed 27.7 fantasy points to the Seahawks running backs in Week 1, a whopping 59.3 fantasy points in Week 2 against the 49ers (36 carries for 244 yards and two touchdowns), and 21.8 more fantasy points to the ageless wonder Frank Gore last week.

Like I said above, if there is a game Conner bounces back, it’s this one at home against Cincinnati.