There aren't many reasons to watch Steelers vs. Bengals on Monday Night Football in Week 15. NFL DFS provides an opportunity to be invested in a game that could turn ugly in a hurry. We're here to help you have an enjoyable viewing experience on Monday night with our DraftKings Showdown picks, which heavily favor the Pittsburgh side of things.
Captaining the Steelers D/ST might be a popular play in this matchup against QB Ryan Finley, but DK has priced that unit accordingly. We're still playing Pittsburgh's defense, but we're putting it in a flex spot to save a bit of money for the rest of our lineup.
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DraftKings Showdown Picks: Steelers vs. Bengals
Captain (1.5x price, 1.5x points): TE Eric Ebron, Steelers ($9,600)
Ebron fits the bill of the player you count on in fantasy only to be disappointed, as he's done that time and again through the years. But the Bengals have allowed the fourth-most DK points to tight ends, and Ebron was targeted six times in his first meeting with Cincinnati this season. If Ebron can get six-plus targets again, he should play well and hopefully find the end zone.
FLEX: WR Diontae Johnson, Steelers ($10,200)
We're going with the Ben Roethlisberger fade in yet another Steelers Showdown lineup. It hasn't been perfect so far, but it still feels like the right thing to do with so many weapons in a similar price range. Johnson seemed to get over his issues with drops last week after snagging a couple clean catches in the second half, so we'll trust him to rack up PPR points here.
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FLEX: WR JuJu Smith-Schuster, Steelers ($10,000)
It's been heavy volume for JuJu for much of the season even though there haven't been many passes down the field for Pittsburgh's most experienced receiver. But in DK's PPR scoring, we don't mind seven or eight catches even if they come at limited yardage.
FLEX: D/ST Steelers ($7,200)
Finley is only starting because Brandon Allen (knee) is hurt, and Allen was only starting because Joe Burrow (knee) is hurt. With Joe Mixon (foot) out, too, this is a depleted Bengals offense with nothing to play for, and T.J. Watt and company should be licking their chops.
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FLEX: RB Benny Snell Jr., Steelers ($6,200)
This is an update: ESPN's Adam Schefter has reported Conner (quad) will be out. That leaves Snell as the starter, and we'll take his volume against a bad defense.
FLEX: RB Giovani Bernard, Bengals ($5,600)
Our lone Cincinnati pick is a bit risky because Bernard was in the doghouse last week after a fumble. We assume he'll play more this week, though, and he's a perfect candidate on DK to at least catch some dump-down passes to rack up garbage points.