Buffalo Bills vs. Cincinnati Bengals Betting Preview
Where: Paul Brown Stadium, Cincinnati, OH
When: Sunday, November 20, 2016, 1:00 PM ET
Line: Buffalo Bills (+3) at Cincinnati Bengals (-3); total: 47.0 – view all NFL lines
TV Broadcast: FOX
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Betting on the Buffalo Bills (+3)
For as good as the Buffalo Bills have looked to the naked eye, the fact remains that they are still a game under .500 after losing to the Seahawks in Seattle last week, 31-25. It was the third-straight loss for the Bills, who put up exactly 25 points for the third-straight time as well.
The bye week should’ve given the team better preparation to maximize their starting quarterback in Tyrod Taylor. The six-year signal-caller dissected Seattle’s vaunted secondary relatively well in Week 9, throwing for 289 yards and a touchdown on 27-of-38 passing. What makes Taylor so unique is that he’s also great in the running with his feet. The Bills trampled the Seahawks for 162 rushing yards and two scores on 38 carries that game, with Taylor accounting for 48 yards and one of those rushing TDs.
With an average of over 155 rushing yards per game this season (second-best in the NFL), expect Buffalo to continue leaning on the ground game in Week 11 against the Bengals, who are giving up about 115 rushing yards per contest. A strong running game has even turned into less mistakes for the Bills, as they have a league-low five turnovers thus far.
Then again, having a sound offense means nothing if the defense doesn’t hold up, and Buffalo’s D has had it rough lately. The team has surrendered no less than 28 points in each contest during its current three-game skid. In relation, the Bengals have been known to explode on offense on occasion, which makes the Bills’ 2-7 record in their last nine road games (2-5-2 ATS) all the more of a concern.
Betting on the Cincinnati Bengals (-3)
Maybe the bye week was a bad thing for the Cincinnati Bengals, who lost in gut-wrenching fashion on Monday Night to the New York Giants, 21-20.
Andy Dalton couldn’t wait to call it an evening against the Giants, as he went a mediocre 16-of-29 for 204 passing yards, a touchdown and an interception. The redheaded QB has once again lost all his power under the cover of night, as he now has a disappointing record of 5-10 in primetime games in his NFL career. The Bengals’ running game couldn’t get anything going either, as Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard combined for just 63 rushing yards on 22 carries for a dismal average of 2.8 yards per carry on Monday.
The story of the Bengals’ season thus far has been their inability to turn their prolific offense into points. They rank fifth in the league in passing yardage and seventh in rushing yardage, and yet they’re just 21st overall at 20.2 points scored per contest. Monday night’s game against New York showed their inefficiency to gain good yards to begin with, so the loss was pretty much inevitable if not for Eli Manning’s two picks that kept them in the contest.
In general, the Bengals have not been successful going up against winning teams. Their only wins this season thus far have been against the Jets, the Browns and the Dolphins (who were still in a funk in their Week 4 matchup). Their losses, meanwhile, have been at the hands of Pittsburgh, Denver, Dallas, New England and now New York. You can even chalk up that tie with Washington as a loss, and you’d get a combined record of 37-14-1 between those teams that were at the .500 mark or better entering the games versus Cincy.
Luckily, the Bengals won’t be facing a winning ball club in the Bills this coming Sunday. In addition, they’ve won three-straight games against Buffalo (2-1 ATS) dating back to 2011. But if they can’t make things right with a win at home, they can also pretty much kiss their playoff hopes goodbye.
Writer’s Prediction
The Bengals eke out a tense, much-needed victory, 26-23, resulting to a PUSH against the spread.
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