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
Notes
Denver is 2-4-1 ATS in its last 7 games.
Denver is 10-4 SU in its last 14 games.
Denver is 12-3 SU in its last 15 games at home.
Denver is 13-3 SU in its last 16 games when playing Cincinnati.
Denver is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games when playing Cincinnati.
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Denver’s last 5 games when playing Cincinnati.
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Denver’s last 6 games when playing at home against Cincinnati.
Denver is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Cincinnati.
Cincinnati is 9-2 SU when leading at the half this season. Denver is 7-2 SU when taking a lead into halftime.
Cincinnati is an even 2-2 SU in games where it wins the turnover battle, yet 8-1 SU when losing the turnover battle.
Cincinnati is an even 3-3 SU this season when allowing at least 3.0 sacks in a game. The Denver defense is currently averaging 3.3 sacks over the last five games.
According to overall NFL pass rankings, Denver is rated higher on both sides of the ball. Its 17th-ranked offensive passing game will face the 18th-ranked pass defense of Cincinnati, while its first-ranked pass defense will look to limit the 11th-ranked aerial attack of the Bengals.
Denver has only given up 18.5 points per contest at home this year, which ranks it ninth in the league. Cincinnati, however, has scored 29.0 points per game on the road (ranked fourth overall).
