The Cincinnati Bengals (8-6) and the Baltimore Ravens (8-6) are squaring off for round two this weekend in what could end up deciding who wins the AFC North. As of now, the Bengals lead the division after their win over Denver and Baltimore’s loss to Green Bay but that could change after the Browns’ Monday evening game.
The last time Cincinnati and Baltimore met up, it resulted in a blowout victory for the stripes and after that win, they held the No. 1 overall seed in the AFC. They, of course, followed that up with back-to-back losses to the Jets and Browns respectively.
Since then, Cincy has continued its rollercoaster of a season. They’re 8-6 now with an opportunity to take a commanding lead in the division title race but can they take down the Ravens again with all of the pressure in the world on them?
Bengals vs Ravens Odds Week 16
WynnBET has Cincinnati as a 2.5-point favorite over the Ravens with a money line of -140. Baltimore’s money line sits at +120 and the over/under is set at 44.5 points. With this game being in the friendly confines of Paul Brown Stadium, the Bengals received three points right off the bat, so Vegas feels if this game was on a neutral field, the Ravens would actually be favored.
Bengals vs Ravens Prediction Week 16
Winning this game would give the Bengals a commanding lead over Baltimore in the AFC North title race, as they’d have swept the birds. These division matchups are so difficult to predict because either the Bengals are dominant (see two matchups vs. the Steelers and previous game against the Ravens) or they crap the bed (see their blowout to the Browns).
With all of the weapons this Cincy offense has, there’s really no reason they should only be putting up 15 points a game whether they’re facing a good defense or not. Baltimore’s defense is decimated with injuries so if Joe Burrow and company can’t put up big numbers and score points against this group, they don’t deserve to make the postseason.
I’m going with a tight 27-24 Bengals win to give them a big edge in the division title sweepstakes.
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