Hoping to extend their undefeated record, the Cincinnati Bengals (5-0) travel to take on the Buffalo Bills (3-2). The NFL’s second-leading passer, Andy Dalton (1,518 yards, 11 TDs), and fourth-leading receiver, A.J. Green (495 yards, 3 TDs), will play an integral role in the outcome of this game. Kickoff is at 1:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, Oct 18 and will air on CBS.
In last week’s game, Buffalo got a close victory over the Titans 14-13. Corey Graham led the defensive effort for Buffalo in the victory, recording eight tackles. Cincinnati also won last week, getting a close victory over the Seahawks 27-24. Tyler Eifert had a huge game for the Bengals, grabbing eight receptions for 90 yards and two TDs. Andy Dalton had a great game as well, adding 331 yards and two TDs through the air.
Buffalo is a slim one-point favorite at home against the Bengals. According to the oddsmakers, the Over/Under (O/U) is currently at 45 points.
Sitting at 3-2 for both Straight Up (SU) and Against The Spread (ATS), the Bills will look to improve heading into Week 6. Teams complete passes at a high percentage against the Bengals. They allow a completion rate of 69.0% to their opponents, 28th in the NFL. Crossing over to the defensive side of the ball, the Bills look to have a distinct advantage in certain spots. The Bengals will need a good game plan against the fourth-best home run defense in the NFL. The Bills give up 70.7 rushing yards per game at home. The Bills are one of the best in the league at scoring in the fourth quarter, averaging 10 points.
Shifting to the opposition, the Bengals head into Week 6 with records of 4-0-1 ATS and 5-0 SU. They enter the week as the league’s fourth-best road scoring offense, dropping an average of 30.5 points per away game on opposing defenses. Cincinnati will look to continue relying on its passing attack, where its 297.2 passing yards per game ranks fifth in the league. Moving on to the Cincinnati defense, it has some favorable matchups that it may be able to take advantage of as well. The Cincinnati run defense is a scary group. They allow 49.5 rushing yards when they play on the road, No. 1 in the NFL. The first quarter is key for the quick-starting Bengals, who average 8.4 points in the first 15 minutes. A lack of discipline could prove particularly costly for the Bills this week. The team has the highest average number of penalty yards per game in the NFL this season with 98.
Predictions: SU Winner – Cin, ATS Winner – Cin, O/U – Over
Notes
The total has gone UNDER in 10 of Buffalo’s last 13 games.
Buffalo is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games.
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of Buffalo’s last 8 games at home.
Buffalo is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games at home.
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Buffalo’s last 5 games when playing Cincinnati.
Buffalo is 10-2 SU in its last 12 games when playing Cincinnati.
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Buffalo’s last 6 games when playing at home against Cincinnati.
Buffalo is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games when playing at home against Cincinnati.
Cincinnati is 1-6 ATS in its last 7 games when playing on the road against Buffalo.
Cincinnati is 4-0 SU when leading at the half this season. Buffalo is 2-0 SU when taking a lead into halftime.
Remarkably, Buffalo is winless (0-2 SU) in games where it wins the turnover battle, yet undefeated (2-0 SU) when losing the turnover battle.
Cincinnati has drawn an average of 8.6 penalties per game on opponents this season, while Buffalo has induced 8.4 per game on opponents. Buffalo is only 1-2 SU when receiving at least eight penalties in a game. Cincinnati is actually a perfect 3-0 SU when getting penalized at least eight times.
Buffalo is rated higher in the ground game on both sides of the ball. Its sixth-ranked rushing attack will face the 18th-ranked run defense of Cincinnati, while its third-ranked run defense will look to contain the 10th-ranked rushing game of the Bengals.
