Early odds on the Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Cincinnati Bengals Week-8 game

When the Pittsburgh Steelers host the Cincinnati Bengals at Heinz Field this Sunday in Week-8 NFL action, the Steelers will be in the rare position of home underdogs. The early line on the Steelers vs. Bengals game has Pittsburgh as 2-point underdogs in this AFC-North matchup.

The Steelers rarely are home underdogs, but this will actually be the second consecutive game that the odds have the Black-and-Gold getting points at home. The previous game was the Week-6 game against the Arizona Cardinals, a game the Steelers won in improbable fashion, with Landry Jones taking over and delivering an inspiring second-half performance.

Jones' encore in Week 7 against a Kansas City Chiefs team that entered the game at 1-5 was far from perfect, and he didn't get much help from his teammates, as the Steelers dropped their third game of the season to move their record to 4-3. It's no surprise that Pittsburgh isn't favored when the 6-0 Bengals bring their perfect record to the Steel City in a bid to possibly drive the final nail into the Steelers' hopes of winning back-to-back divisional titles.

Cincinnati and Pittsburgh matchups have been extremely close in the past few years, even with the Steelers sweeping the season series in 2014. It's no surprise why the point spread is so close between these two teams preparing to do battle this Sunday. Either way you look at it, the early odds are in favor of the Bengals, but in a very close game as well. This one could very well be a toss-up.