The Cincinnati Bengals (8-1) will travel to take on the Arizona Cardinals (7-2) this week in a battle between two quality teams. The NFL’s fourth-leading passer, Carson Palmer (2,749 yards, 23 TDs), and second-leading rusher, Chris Johnson (734 yards, 3 TDs), will play an integral role in the outcome of this game. Kickoff is at 8:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, Nov 22 and will air on NBC.
In last week’s game, Arizona got a win over the Seahawks 39-32. Michael Floyd had a great game in the victory, grabbing seven receptions for 113 yards and two TDs. Larry Fitzgerald had a great game as well, adding 130 yards on 10 catches. Cincinnati is hoping for a different outcome after losing to the Texans 10-6. Reggie Nelson led the defensive effort for Cincinnati, recording two tackles and one interception.
As a slim two-point underdog, the Bengals look to upend the Cardinals. The Over/Under (O/U) is sitting at 47 points.
Sitting at 7-2 Straight Up (SU) and 6-3 Against The Spread (ATS), the Cardinals will look to improve heading into Week 11. In their five most recent matchups, the Cardinals went 4-1 SU and 3-2 ATS. A focal point of Arizona’s offense at home is its passing game, which ranks fifth in the league with 303 passing yards per home game. During their last five games, the Cardinals have done a better job stopping the run, giving up an average of 81.4 rushing yards. The Bengals need to put emphasis on preparing for Arizona’s sneaky defense. It currently has the most interceptions with 1.5 per home game. Arizona will face one of the worst road fourth quarter scoring defenses in the league. The Bengals allow an average of 9.2 points on the road. Arizona, one of the least penalized teams in the NFL (fourth), is likely to stay in the referees’ good graces this week. The team has averaged 49 penalty yards per game this season.
Across the field, the Bengals head into Week 11 with records of 7-1-1 ATS and 8-1 SU. Over their last five games, the Bengals have a SU record of 4-1 and a 3-1-1 record ATS.
Predictions: SU Winner – Ari, ATS Winner – Ari, O/U – Over
Notes
Arizona is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games.
The total has gone OVER in 8 of Arizona’s last 10 games.
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Arizona’s last 5 games at home.
Arizona is 10-2 SU in its last 12 games at home.
Both teams are 6-1 SU when leading after two quarters this season.
This season, Cincinnati is 2-1 SU in games where it wins the turnover battle, yet undefeated (5-0 SU) in games where it loses the turnover battle.
The Cincinnati defense is averaging 3.0 sacks over its last five games. Arizona is 2-1 SU this season when allowing at least 3.0 sacks in a game, however.
Arizona has drawn an average of 8.8 penalties on opponents this season, but Cincinnati is 4-1 SU when penalized at least eight times in a game.
Arizona is rated higher in the ground game on both sides of the ball. Its eighth-ranked rushing attack will face the 13th-ranked run defense of Cincinnati, while its fourth-ranked run defense will look to contain the 13th-ranked rushing game of the Bengals.
