Who will win the duel of the two hottest AFC teams?
The final Monday night game of the season is upon us and it’s an absolute cracker. Our Cincinnati Bengals vs Buffalo Bills betting tip will have every football fan’s mouth watering, because there are no hotter teams in the AFC right now.
The Bengals come into this game with seven straight wins, while the Bills have six. For Buffalo, it’s also about the No. 1 seed, which they would come very close to with a win in Cincinnati. However, that’s still in the cards for the Bengals with a little luck of the draw.
It’s possible that this duel will take place again in the playoffs, which of course raises the question of how many tricks and moves both teams will show on Monday. Be that as it may, we expect a spectacle in all cases and most likely a very close game.
So our prediction for Bengals vs. Bills is a duel of equals, in which the Bills could have the better end for themselves due to their better defence. But just one mistake too many and the Bengals snatch win number eight in a row.
Kickoff of this top duel in the AFC is Tuesday night at 02:30 in Cincinnati. The game can be watched live on DAZN.
Cincinnati Bengals – Statistics & current form
The Bengals are currently the measure of all things in the AFC. Although they only have the third best record, but that is mainly due to their rather mixed start. Since game day 9 they are hardly to be stopped – not even by the Bucs or the Chiefs.
Now the Bills come to Paul Brown Stadium and are the second hottest team at the moment. At the same time, it’s also a showdown for the top spots in the AFC. With a win, the Bengals would suddenly be back in the draw for the No. 1 seed.
Always a weak half in the game
Lately, the Bengals won consistently, but had disaster halves against both the Bucs and Patriots in the schedule. Against Tampa they lost the first half with 3:17, against the Pats the second half with 0:18.
This will not work in the long run and already against New England only their defence saved them, which forced the Pats into a loss of the ball after downs. In general, their defence is also getting better and better after a weak start and is partly responsible for the upswing in the second half of the season.
Still, they can’t afford these inconsistent halves against top teams like the Bills. They are also the masters of close games, winning four times in six games with only a one-score lead.
Duell of the top quarterbacks
Besides the defence (the Bills allow 2.9 points less per game), it also comes down to a duel of the quarterback stars. Both of them have not always been completely safe on the road lately and have made interceptions.
Burrow has four in the last five games, Allen three. For Monday, however, we expect a concentrated performance from both captains and few to no interceptions. This also makes the odds on 0 interceptions by the quarterbacks on Bengals vs. Bills a good playable betting option.
Key Players:
QB: Joe Burrow
RB: Joe Mixon
WR: Ja’Marre Chase
TE: Hayden Hurst
K: Evan McPherson
Buffalo Bills – Statistics & current form
Will the Bills also get their seventh straight sweep on Monday? It is certainly to be expected, especially since Josh Allen is in a better mood than in the middle of the season. His elbow injury also seems to be bothering him less at the moment.
Although it cannot be denied that he has had one or two more bad throws in his repertoire this season than in previous years. He has already thrown 13 interceptions, which is the second-highest figure in the league.
Allen recently more secure again
Although he threw two interceptions again against the Bears, he has improved a lot in that regard. The three games before that he went completely without an intercepted ball, which we expect again on Monday. In the five games before that, he threw only one interception.
This means that the betting odds on Allen throwing under 0.5 interceptions are definitely to be taken advantage of in Cincinnati vs. Buffalo. These are above the magic 2.00 mark and we see the odds as much higher that he stays flawless.
Bills can clinch division already
Should the Bills win their game at Cincinnati and the Chiefs lose at the same time, Buffalo would already have the No. 1 seed secured. An extra motivational push, as several starters could then also be spared on the final day of play.
With both teams hot offensively, it will come down to who makes fewer mistakes. Here we see Allen on a good path, which is why betting on the Bills is also an option. If they do, though, it will be without much of a handicap as we expect a real thriller.
Key Players:
QB: Josh Allen
RB: Devin Singletary
WR: Stefon Diggs
TE: Dawson Knox
K: Tyler Bass
Cincinnati Bengals – Buffalo Bills Head-to-head comparison / H2H record
The two teams have not met in the last two years, though they did meet four times in the five years prior. Those four duels were split fraternally, with each team also winning once away from home. This statistic also makes it difficult to predict the winner between the Cincinnati Bengals and Buffalo Bills.
However, a Burrow vs. Allen duel has not yet occurred in the NFL, which is another interesting factor for Monday. Both Burrow and Allen always play particularly well against other strong qaurterbacks, so we expect a fairly low-fault game.
The 49.5 total points set should not necessarily be reached with them either. In the last three duels, the total even fell short of the 40-point mark. Thus, a bet on under points is also worth considering for Cincinnati vs. Buffalo.
Cincinnati Bengals – Buffalo Bills Tip
The Bills are 1-point favorites, which means: It’s a 50-50 duel where it purely depends on the form of the day. However, we also feel this very slight tendency of the bookmakers pro Buffalo, which is due to their slightly better defence – even without Von Miller.
Thus, a tip on Buffalo is one of our betting recommendations for Bengals vs. Bills. Our favourite bet, however, is on under 0.5 interceptions from Allen. He has been flawless in this regard in three of his last four games.
Alternatively, a bet on a touchdown by Joe Mixon or Gabe Davis is also an option. Davis in particular has outstanding odds ahead of the Cincinnati Bengals vs. Buffalo Bills game and has been thrown at more frequently of late. He could thus also score in two of his last four games.