An already important game turned downright critical after yesterday’s New England Patriots loss. The Cincinnati Bengals (11-3) travel to Mile High tonight to take on the Denver Broncos (11-3) and neither team will be fielding their starting quarterback. Supposedly.
Scroll on down for the live blog. Keep reading for preview information.
First here’s my pick from The FAQ.
Monday Night
Cincinnati at Denver (-3)
After more than a month of horrible Monday night games, Jon Gruden and Mike Terico get a Christmas gift in the game for the No. 2 (and maybe No. 1) seed in the AFC. I like the Broncos at home. Broncos 20, Bengals 17
And here’s our GMS Preview.
In this week’s NFL game previews and picks, the Cincinnati Bengals (11-3) will travel to take on the Denver Broncos (10-4) this week in a battle between two strong teams. Denver has had its share of highlights this season, but has struggled in recent weeks, having lost two of its last three. Kickoff is at 8:30 p.m. ET on Monday, Dec 28 and will air on ESPN.
In last week’s game, Denver fell to the Steelers 34-27. Emmanuel Sanders had a huge game in the loss, grabbing 10 receptions for 181 yards and one TD. Brock Osweiler had a great game as well, adding 296 yards and three TDs through the air. Cincinnati is looking to repeat last week when it defeated the 49ers 24-14. Vontaze Burfict led the defensive effort for Cincinnati, recording five tackles, one sack, and one interception.
Denver is a three-point favorite against the Bengals. The Over/Under (O/U) line is currently at 41 points for this matchup.
Sitting at 10-4 Straight Up (SU) and 7-5-2 Against The Spread (ATS), the Broncos will look to improve heading into Week 16. In their five most recent matchups, the Broncos went 3-2 SU and 2-2-1 ATS. Denver is averaging 124.2 rushing yards in its last five games, an improvement over its season average of 99.6. Turning to the Broncos defense, there are several areas to keep an eye on. The Bengals offense should expect to run into problems running the ball against the Broncos and their No. 1-ranked run defense. The Broncos give up 79.7 yards per game on the ground.
Across the field, the Bengals head into Week 16 with records of 11-2-1 ATS and 11-3 SU. Over their last five games, the Bengals have a SU record of 3-2 and a 4-1 record ATS. Cincinnati’s game plan focuses on running the football, averaging 29.1 rushing attempts per game. Preparing for Cincinnati’s top-five scoring defense could be challenging for the Broncos. So far this year, Cincinnati’s defense on the road has allowed opponents to score an average of 17 points. Opponents have had trouble against the menacing group that is the Cincinnati defense. It sits atop the league in rushing yards allowed with 76 per away game. Avoiding turnovers will be critical for the Broncos against the Bengals defense, which ranks fourth in the league in turnovers with 2.1 per away game. The Broncos will have to stay focused in the second quarter against Cincinnati. The Bengals have powerful performances to close out the first half, averaging a league-leading 11.1 points during the second quarter of road games. Few teams have been worse than Denver at losing yardage through infractions. The Broncos have accumulated 70 penalty yards per game this season.
Predictions in this week’s NFL Game Previews and Picks: SU Winner – Cin, ATS Winner – Cin, O/U – Under
The game is on ESPN at 8:15 p.m. EST. Watch it with me.
