The Cincinnati Bengals have finally broken their winless streak with a victory in Week 13. Will the Bengals get their second win in a row against the gloomy Cleveland Browns, who received yet another black eye last Sunday?
The Bengals made sure that they will not be finishing the 2019 NFL season with an embarrassing 0-16 straight-up (SU) record. The Bengals gave Zac Taylor his first win as the team head coach last Sunday by taking down the New York Jets at home, 22-6. Andy Dalton started again for the team after giving way to the Bengals to see what they have in Ryan Finley, and the veteran quarterback went 22 of 37 for 237 passing yards and a touchdown. The tandem of wide receivers Auden Tate and Tyler Boyd may not be the best in the NFL, but with Dalton, the two can be deceptively dangerous for opposing defenses. Tate led the team in the Jets game with 66 receiving yards on four catches, while Boyd turned five receptions for 59 receiving yards and a touchdown. The Bengals are likely to continue starting Dalton, but also watch out for Joe Mixon to make a bigger difference. Mixon rushed for only 44 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries against the Jets and will next deal with Cleveland’s run defense that’s only ranked 26th overall in the NFL.
The Bengals, who are averaging 14.9 points per game, have seen the total go under in all of their last three games.
Betting on the Cleveland Browns (5-7)
The Browns had their three-game winning streak end last Sunday in a 20-13 road loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. It was a particularly frustrating loss for Cleveland, as the Steelers needed just a third-string quarterback in Devlin Hodges to hurt the Browns’ defense. The Browns obviously missed the services of cornerback Damarious Randall, who missed the team’s flight to the game due to an off-the-field issue. Whether he’ll be back to action in Week 14 is something that is unknown as of this writing. More importantly, the Browns have to find a way to get Odell Beckham Jr. the ball. They didn’t trade for the star wide receiver to get not enough attention downfield. Beckham only had three receptions and six targets while finishing with a mere total of 29 receiving yards in the rematch with Pittsburgh. Baker Mayfield should find his receivers a whole lot easier, though, in Week 14 against Cincinnati’s leaky pass defense.
The Browns are 2-0-1 against the spread (ATS) in their last three games at home.
