Baltimore Ravens vs Cincinnati Bengals NFL Odds, Betting Preview 9/13/18

Thursday night football and a pair of teams from the NFC North will square off as the Baltimore Ravens grapple with the Cincinnati Bengals. This contest will take place at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio with a start time of 8:20 PM ET. The Ravens are off a 47-3 thrashing of the Bills at home, while the Bengals are off a 34-23 road win over the Colts.

Lines: Cincinnati -1 … Over/Under 45

A Look At The Ravens

The Baltimore Ravens have their sights set on a division title this year and they got off to a great start as they crushed the Buffalo Bills by a score of 47-3. Their defense was very strong in the preseason and they continued that in their opening win. They held the Bills to just the three points and 153 total yards of offense. That breaks down to just 83 yards rushing and 70 yards through the air. This is a scary defense and will look to keep it going against a Cincinnati team that looked good on offense last week against Colts.

The defense looked great in that win, but the offense did as well as they hung up 47 points on 369 yards of total offense, including 252 yards through the air, Joe Flacco showed that he is not ready to give up his spot to Lamar Jackson as he threw for 252 yards and three TDs with no INTs. Willie Snead had 49 yards receiving and a TD, while John Brown had 44 receiving yards and a TD. If the offense continues to play this well, then there may be no stopping the Ravens as their defense is off the charts at the moment.       

A Look At The Bengals

The Cincinnati Bengals did not have the easy win that the Ravens had, but they did pull out a nice road win over the Colts to start their year. The won that game by a score if 34-23 in a game that they trailed 13-3 and 23-10. It was a huge win for a team that needed to get off to a good start after going just 7-9 last year. Now their task gets a bit tougher as they are facing a Baltimore team that may be the most complete in the AFC. They have to be extra careful in this one as the Bengals beat the Ravens on the final Sunday of the season last year and that kept Baltimore from the playoffs.

The Bengals were outgained 380-330 in the game, but they forced two turnovers and ran a fumble back 83 yards for a TD. Andy Dalton was 21/28 for 243 yards with two TDs and one INT in the game. Joe Mixon had a nice game on the ground as he ran for 95 of Cincinnati’s 101 yards and he has a TD as well. He will not have it that easy in this one as the Ravens may have the best defense in the league. Still, the Bengals must try for balance or they will have no shot at taking down the Ravens.      

Trends

Baltimore is:

12-3 ATS in their last 15 vs. AFC North

16-6-4 ATS in their last 26 road games vs. a team with a winning home record

3-9-2 ATS in their last 14 games following a straight up win of more than 14 points

The Under is 8-3 in their last 11 vs. the AFC North

The Over is 6-1 in their last 7 road games vs. a team with a winning home record

Cincinnati is:

6-0 ATS in their last 6 vs. the AFC.

9-2 ATS in their last 11 home games vs. a team with a winning road record

The Over is 4-0 in their last 4 vs. AFC North.

The Under is 5-0 in their last 5 games in Week 2