{"id":218616,"date":"2025-10-16T20:57:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T20:57:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/218616\/"},"modified":"2025-10-16T20:57:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T20:57:09","slug":"todays-top-games-to-watch-best-bets-odds-steelers-at-bengals-mlb-playoffs-college-football-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/218616\/","title":{"rendered":"Today’s top games to watch, best bets, odds: Steelers at Bengals, MLB playoffs, college football and more"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> can increase their lead in the AFC North when they take on the Cincinnati Bengals<\/a> on Thursday Night Football at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati<\/a>. The Steelers (4-1) sit atop the division by 2.5 games over the Bengals (2-4) and by 3.5 games over the Ravens<\/a> and Browns<\/a> (both 1-5).<\/p>\n

Thursday’s game will feature two 40+ year-old starting quarterbacks and former Super Bowl<\/a> MVPs: Pittsburgh’s<\/a> 41-year-old Aaron Rodgers<\/a> and Cincinnati’s 40-year-old Joe Flacco<\/a>, who was acquired by the team from Cleveland last week. This will be just the fourth matchup since 1950 between starting quarterbacks in their 40s. The previous three matchups all came in 2020 between Tom Brady<\/a> and Drew Brees.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Steelers are 5.5-point favorites over the Bengals on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh and Cincinnati are two teams heading in opposite directions. After losing to the Seahawks<\/a> in Week 2, the Steelers have won three in a row over the Patriots<\/a>, Vikings<\/a> and Browns. During the streak, Pittsburgh is allowing just 14.7 points a game while forcing seven turnovers and registering 17 sacks. T.J. Watt<\/a> & Co. have sacked the quarterback at least five times in three straight games.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Bengals have lost four in a row since losing starting quarterback Joe Burrow<\/a> indefinitely to a turf toe injury. They’ve been outscored 140-55 over that time. More telling, they’ve been outscored 107-16 over the first three quarters in those four games.<\/p>\n

The Steelers will need to overcome their Thursday Night Football road demons if they are to beat Cincinnati. Pittsburgh has lost eight of its last nine Thursday road games, including the last four.<\/p>\n

While the Steelers-Bengals game is the marquee attraction on the sporting landscape on Thursday, there are other viewing options on a two-game MLB<\/a> playoff slate and Tulsa-East Carolina in\u00a0college football<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Below is a snapshot of what to watch and bet on Thursday, Oct. 16. All times Eastern.<\/p>\n

NFL best bets, where to watchSteelers at Bengals<\/p>\n

Time:\u00a08:15 p.m. | Location: Cincinnati\u00a0| TV:\u00a0Prime Video | Stream: Fubo<\/a>\u00a0(Try for free)<\/p>\n

SportsLine picks<\/a> — Model:\u00a0Steelers -5.5\u00a0| Expert:\u00a0Bengals +5.5 (R.J. White)<\/p>\n

The Cincinnati offense has been relatively punchless without Burrow. The Bengals have committed 11 turnovers this season, which is tied for the most in the NFL<\/a>. In 18 games without Burrow since he entered the league in 2020, Cincinnati is just 6-12. The SportsLine Projection Model, which simulates every NFL<\/a> game 10,000 times, says Pittsburgh has a 57% chance to cover and assigns a “B” grade to Steelers -5.5. But White notes Pittsburgh is averaging just 5.1 yards per play on offense this season. In addition, Rodgers is averaging just 5.3 yards per attempt, the worst in the league. “Basically, this doesn’t profile as a team that should be laying this many points on the road, especially in a divisional matchup, even against a bad Bengals team,” White says.<\/p>\n

More NFL best bets<\/p>\n

MLB best bets, where to watchNLCS Game 3: Brewers at Dodgers<\/p>\n

Time:\u00a06:08 p.m. |\u00a0Location:\u00a0Los Angeles\u00a0|\u00a0TV:\u00a0TBS, HBO Max |\u00a0Stream:\u00a0Fubo<\/a> (Try for free)<\/p>\n

SportsLine picks<\/a> — Model:\u00a0Brewers +159<\/p>\n

The reigning champions Los Angeles Dodgers can move one step closer to a return trip to the World Series when they face the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 3 of the NLCS at Dodger Stadium. Los Angeles has been a freight train in the postseason, having won seven of its eight games, including the first two games of the NLCS. Dodgers pitching has limited the Brewers to a .086 batting average (5-of-58) in the best-of-7 series. For Game 3, Tyler Glasnow<\/a> will take the mound for Los Angeles. Meanwhile, Milwaukee, which had the best record in all of baseball in the regular season, has yet to announce a pitching plan. The SportsLine Projection Model says the Brewers have a 48% chance to win and gives a “B” grade to Milwaukee money line (+159).<\/p>\n

ALCS Game 4: Blue Jays at Mariners<\/p>\n

Time:\u00a08:33 p.m. |\u00a0Location:\u00a0Seattle |\u00a0TV:\u00a0FS1 |\u00a0Stream:\u00a0Fubo<\/a> (Try for free)<\/p>\n

SportsLine picks<\/a> — Model:\u00a0Mariners-126\u00a0| Expert: Over 7.5 total runs -115 (Bruce Marshall<\/a>)<\/p>\n

The Toronto Blue Jays will try to even the ALSC against the Seattle Mariners at 2-2 when the two teams collide in Game 4 at T-Mobile Park. After losing the first two games of the best-of-7 series at home, the Blue Jays rebounded with five home runs in a resounding 13-4 victory in Game 3 on Wednesday. For Game 4, three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer<\/a> will get the call for Toronto, while Luis Castillo<\/a> will start for the Mariners. Castillo is 4-0 with a 0.86 ERA in his last six appearances. The SportsLine Projection Model gives Seattle a 59% chance to win and assigns a “B” grade to Mariners money line (-126). Marshall notes Scherzer had a 10.20 ERA in September. “The Jays bullpen needs to be ready tonight,” Marshall says. “Play Blue Jays-Mariners Over.”<\/p>\n

College football best bets, where to watchTulsa at East Carolina<\/p>\n

Time:\u00a07:30 p.m. |\u00a0Location:\u00a0Greenville, N.C. |\u00a0TV:\u00a0ESPN\u00a0|\u00a0Stream:\u00a0Fubo<\/a>\u00a0(Try for free)<\/p>\n

SportsLine picks<\/a> — Model:\u00a0Under 53.5 -105<\/p>\n

The East Carolina Pirates will try to bounce back from their first AAC loss of the season when they host the Tulsa Golden Hurricane at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. The Pirates<\/a> (3-3, 1-1 in American) are coming of a 26-19 loss at Tulane<\/a> last Thursday in which they gave up 362 passing yards. Meanwhile, the Golden Hurricane (2-4, 0-3) have lost four of their last five games. East Carolina is giving up just 15.5 points per game this season, which ranks 15th in the country. That does not bode well for Tulsa, which ranks 120th in the FBS in scoring offense (18.7 points per game). The SportsLine Projection Model says there’s a 65% chance the teams stay Under the total and assigns an “A” grade to Under 53.5.<\/p>\n

Looking aheadLouisville at No. 2 Miami<\/p>\n

Time:\u00a07 p.m. Friday |\u00a0Location:\u00a0Miami Gardens, Fla.\u00a0|\u00a0TV:\u00a0ESPN\u00a0|\u00a0Stream:\u00a0Fubo<\/a>\u00a0(Try for free)<\/p>\n

SportsLine picks<\/a>\u00a0— Model:\u00a0Cardinals<\/a> +13.5<\/p>\n

The No. 2 Miami Hurricanes will try to keep their undefeated season rolling when they take on the Louisville Cardinals on Friday at Hard Rock Stadium. The Hurricanes (5-0, 1-0 in ACC) have positioned themselves as legitimate national title contenders and are on track for an undefeated regular season; none of their remaining seven opponents is ranked. Meanwhile, the Cardinals (4-1, 1-1) are coming off a bye week. Prior to that they dropped their first game of the season, a 30-27 loss in overtime against No. 24 Virginia<\/a>. The SportsLine Projection Model says Louisville has a 67% chance to cover and gives a “B” grade to Cardinals +13.5.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Pittsburgh Steelers can increase their lead in the AFC North when they take on the Cincinnati Bengals…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":218617,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[626,1258,64,63,631,615,129566,133263,33611,1252,1238,594,629,1270,102025,133486,16086,1239,591,48834,9925,1231,593,32043,59487,33628,5160,1241,1254,85,2366,133485,1284,133484,133479,30663,133482,133480,133483,33615,5784,33626,133481],"class_list":["post-218616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-aaron-rodgers","tag-arizona-cardinals","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-baltimore-ravens","tag-betting","tag-blue-jays-mariners-picks","tag-brewers-dodgers-picks","tag-cincinnati-bearcats","tag-cincinnati-bengals","tag-cleveland-browns","tag-college-football","tag-joe-burrow","tag-joe-flacco","tag-luis-castillo","tag-marshall-thundering-herd","tag-max-scherzer","tag-minnesota-vikings","tag-mlb","tag-mlb-odds","tag-mlb-picks","tag-new-england-patriots","tag-nfl","tag-nfl-odds","tag-nfl-picks","tag-pittsburgh-panthers","tag-pittsburgh-pirates","tag-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-seattle-seahawks","tag-sports","tag-st-louis-cardinals","tag-steelers-bengals-picks","tag-t-j-watt","tag-todays-best-bets","tag-todays-top-games","tag-tom-brady","tag-top-games-thursday","tag-top-games-to-watch","tag-top-sports-thursday","tag-tulane-green-wave","tag-tyler-glasnow","tag-virginia-cavaliers","tag-what-to-watch-thursday"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218616","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=218616"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218616\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/218617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=218616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=218616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=218616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}