The Bengals were dominated last week on the road against the Baltimore Ravens. Can they bounce back at home against their in-state rivals and looked more like the playoff team they were a year ago? Find out what the NFL odds makers have to say.
If you cruise over to
our NFL odds page you will see that the
Cincinnati Bengals have been installed as seven point favorites over the
Cleveland Browns in Sunday's battle for Ohio.
Given the performances that
were turned in by these two teams last week this game is important for both
teams as they try to prove that their dismal performances were flukes. We think
that the underlying facts indicate that one of these teams has a decided edge.
Cleveland Hung With
Philly...Kinda.
The perception going into
this year was that the Philadelphia Eagles learned a lot from last year when
they were so highly touted before the season. This campaign was going to be
different as they remained focused and Michael Vick stayed healthy and cut down
on the turnovers. In fact, the way they played last Sunday was more of the
same.
Yes, the Cleveland Browns
almost pulled off an upset over the supposedly mighty Eagles, losing 17-16
after going off as nine point underdogs in their season opener. But it isn't so
much that Cleveland hung with the Philadelphia of expectations. They stayed
close to a Philadelphia team that played horrendously, turning the ball over
time after time.
Cleveland must have played
pretty good defense to hold that high-powered offense to just 17 points, huh?
Not hardly... Philadelphia racked up a total of 456 yards with 317 of them
coming through the air. LeSean McCoy gained 110 yards on the ground in just 20
carries for a 5.5 yards per carry average.
The Eagles got 25 first downs
in the ballgame; the Browns managed 12 first downs.
But the Eagles turned the
ball over five times including that pick six by D'Qwell Jackson.
The Browns turned the ball
over four times themselves so you really can't find many positives in spite of
the fact that they did cover the spread.
Will Cincinnati Rebound?
The Bengals got mauled by the
Ravens in Baltimore in their opener by a score of 44-13. Not a whole lot went
well for Cincinnati but hey, the
Ravens are among the favorites to win it all
and they were playing at home. The Bengals did register 322 yards of total offense and they held a
time of possession edge.
Ed Reed's 34 yard touchdown
scamper after picking off an Andy Dalton pass really seized the momentum as
things went downhill for the Bengals after that. Baltimore was a seven point
favorite in the game and the total was 42.5 so people who backed the home team
and the OVER went home happy.
My Free NFL Pick
It's no real crime to lose a
season opener on the road to a highly regarded football team like the Ravens.
Cleveland on the other hand had its home game against the Philadelphia Eagles
handed to them on a silver platter and they couldn't get it done.
I believe that Cincinnati
will rebound from the bad loss in Baltimore and play a good one on Sunday at
home against the Cleveland Browns. To be honest I'm bucking some trends here, including the fact that the Browns are 4-0 in
their last four road games against the spread and 5-0 ATS in their last five
games overall.
Free NFL Picks: Be that as it may, my
selection is the Cincinnati Bengals -7.