The Pittsburgh Steelers visit the Cincinnati Bengals on October 16 for Thursday Night Football at Paycor Stadium. Kickoff for TNF is set for at 8:15 p.m. ET on Prime Video.
For my Steelers vs Bengals anytime touchdown picks, I'm targeting four players: Tee Higgins, Jonnu Smith, Samaje Perine and Kaleb Johnson — the latter two are my long-shot touchdown bets.
Continue below for my Steelers vs Bengals anytime touchdown preview for Thursday night in Cincinnati.
Steelers vs Bengals Anytime Touchdown Props
- Tee Higgins Anytime Touchdown +225 (bet365; 1 unit)
- Jonnu Smith Anytime Touchdown +360 (BetMGM; 1 unit)
- Samaje Perine Anytime Touchdown +750 (BetMGM; 0.25 units)
- Kaleb Johnson Anytime Touchdown +1000 (FanDuel; 0.25 units)
Steelers vs Bengals Anytime Touchdown Scorer Picks
Tee Higgins Anytime Touchdown (+225)
Tee Higgins saw a season-high eight targets in Week 6; he had two targets inside the 10-yard line and was close to scoring.
I think this is the matchup where you want Higgins. He’s consistently seen his target share and yards per route run increase when playing man coverage.
The Steelers play man defense at the fifth-highest rate, with the second-highest rate of single high safety.
If Joe Flacco can buy some time against the Steelers' pressure, I expect Higgins to see a few deep throws and end-zone targets tonight.
Pick: Tee Higgins Anytime Touchdown (+225)
Jonnu Smith Anytime Touchdown (+360)
This is a great spot for Jonnu Smith to get back on track.
He was back to running the second-most routes in Week 6 after the hip injury. The Bengals have not defended tight ends well this season, with five touchdowns allowed to the position, plus the second-most targets and fifth-most catches.
With wide receiver Calvin Austin out, it could lead to more usage for Smith.
I also think we’re getting a decent price on Smith now that the hype machine for Darnell Washington has steamed his TD odds.
Pick: Jonnu Smith Anytime Touchdown (+360)
Samaje Perine Anytime Touchdown (+750)
Kaleb Johnson Anytime Touchdown (+1000)
Again, these two bets are for 0.25 units.
I love the prices we're getting on these backup running backs.
Samaje Perine will be the Bengals' third-down, pass-catching back and could be used even more to hold off the Steelers' pass rush and blitz.
He played nearly the same amount of snaps as Chase Brown in each of the last two weeks, so getting an RB2 at +700 is decent value.
Kaleb Johnson has started to get some carries for the Steelers with 12 over the last two games, and two of those were in the red zone in Week 6.
The Steelers' backfield is a bit of a rotation, but Johnson should still be in the mix. There’s also potential he could break off a big gain since the Bengals rank 26th in defensive DVOA against the run.
Editor's Note: An anytime touchdown parlay is not the author's formal recommendation. These touchdown picks have value as straight bets.
