Steelers come off bye to face Bengals after Madrid, a setup no NFL team has overcome

The Pittsburgh Steelers head to Cincinnati on Sunday night rested, and the Bengals do not. Pittsburgh is coming off its bye week. Cincinnati is a week removed from a 34-17 win over Atlanta at Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid. According to CBS Sports, that mix of travel and rest has come up five times, and the team returning from an international game has lost all five against an opponent coming off a bye.

CBS Sports' John Breech counted those five teams. They averaged 15 points a game, went 0-4-1 against the spread and were outscored 83-37 through three quarters. One of those losses went to Pittsburgh: last season the Steelers came off a Week 5 bye and beat a Cleveland team just back from London, 23-9. Philadelphia lost the same way this year at Carolina after its London game. Breech's other point is about recovery. Madrid is six hours ahead of Cincinnati, and the rough rule of a day per time zone means some Bengals may not be fully readjusted until this weekend. He also notes that teams are 13-1 this season in their first game after a bye.

The sample is small, and Cincinnati comes in playing well. The Bengals' own recap of the Madrid game shows Joe Burrow throwing three touchdown passes as Cincinnati won its fourth straight to reach 6-2. The Bengals have scored at least 30 points in each of those four wins, their first such run since 1997.

The Steelers also got good news on health this week. Yahoo Sports reported that wide receiver Ben Skowronek (calf) and cornerback Brandin Echols (hamstring) were full participants in Wednesday's practice. The Steelers.com injury report shows Cincinnati safety Kyle Dugger (quadriceps) missing practice, and Yahoo Sports later reported that Zac Taylor ruled Dugger out and cleared guard Dylan Fairchild to play.

What it means for Sunday night in Cincinnati

This is a matchup of 6-2 teams. Pittsburgh has won four straight, most recently a 27-6 win over Cleveland, and has allowed 19 points or fewer in three of those four games. The Steelers have also beaten the Bengals once already this season, 30-27 at home. Their two losses both came on the road, 20-3 at New England and 27-24 at Cleveland. Kickoff is 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC.

The market still has Cincinnati ahead. On this site's board, which tracks 11 venues, the Bengals are favored at -167 on Novig and the Steelers are +163. On the spread, Novig lists Pittsburgh at +3.5 for -104 and Cincinnati at -3.5 for +102. The total is where the venues split. Novig has 49.5, with the over at -100. FanDuel's 48.5 at -115 is the best over price anywhere, so the venues are a full point apart. Sportsbook hold runs from about 3% to just over 5% across the markets.

The point spread suggests the market sees Cincinnati's offense as more important than its jet lag. Every past team in the Bengals' position has lost, though, and Pittsburgh has already won one of those games.