After a week of terrible primetime games, I believe the football viewing community has deserved this one. The Cincinnati Bengals (+3.5) are the favorite.
Wager $10 on CIN to win over BAL: $24.20 Lose by less than 3.5:
To win: $18.93 to lose: $15.88 against their division rival Baltimore Ravens (-3.5).
Wagering $10 on BAL to beat CIN: $15.88 Winning by 3.5:
To win: $19.26 to lose: $24.20 in the highly competitive and always entertaining AFC North. The Bengals began the season on a sour note, with Joe Burrow’s calf issue impeding the normally competitive offense. The Bengals appeared to be on their way back until they stumbled against the suddenly exciting Houston Texans (-5)
Wagering $10 on HOU to beat ARI: $14.35 Win by 5: $19.09 Lose:
Last week, Baltimore appeared to be putting the finishing touches on their fifth straight victory when the Browns mounted a huge fourth-quarter comeback. The Ravens had a 98% chance of winning with 9 minutes remaining before giving up 16 unanswered points. That would have given Baltimore a stranglehold on the division, but this is the AFC North, after all! It has to be as insane as possible for as long as possible.
A Bengals victory on Thursday may further confuse the division waters, allowing the winner of the Steelers-Browns game coming Sunday to take over the division lead. As much as I enjoy the pandemonium, I believe the Ravens are the somewhat better team and are playing at home. They have the better defense, and Lamar Jackson is currently playing as well as anyone. I believe they will win, but it will be a close call. That’s hardly much of a prediction, though, because these AFC North games are always tense. Because of these quarterbacks, I believe the over will hit in this one, but the tendency for Thursday games has been heavily in favor of the under.
