Will the Bengals extend their winning streak?
Yes, is it Christmas already?! Yes! Thank goodness. Because in addition to numerous presents, NFL Saturday offers numerous games, One of the best matchups takes place at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, where the New England Patriots host the Cincinnati Bengals. According to the odds on offer in the markets, the visitors, who are one of the in-form teams in the league, are the favourites for the game.
The Patriots’ slapstick play last game day against the Las Vegas Raiders probably washed up in just about every NFL-heavy timeline. The play, which – and both the coaches and players involved have confirmed – was not planned that way, cost New England the win against Las Vegas. That leaves them in third place in the AFC East with an even 7-7 record.
The Bengals have three more wins on their record, winning all of their last six games. Not only did they move into first place in their division last week, they also moved into third place in the AFC Conference. With three days to go, it seems almost certain that Cincinnati will reach the postseason. Due to this strength of form, betting on last year’s Super Bowl participant between the Patriots and Bengals is definitely recommended.
New England Patriots – Statistics & current form
The Patriots are currently third-best in their division, arguably travelling about where the franchise expected to be before the season. They have a 28 percent chance of making the playoffs, though head coach Bill Belichick’s team expects a tough schedule in the final weeks of the regular season. After the Bengals, they still have to face division rivals Miami Dolphins and Buffalo Bills, the two teams that are ahead of New England in the AFC East.
The Pats lost 24-30 on the last matchday. Most recently, they have lost three of their last four games. If the negative trend can now be stopped against one of the best teams at the moment, betting odds between the Patriots and Bengals will be above the 2.50 mark in some cases. And that Cincinnati is vulnerable on the defensive side could be seen last week in the duel against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Offensive inconsistent
If New England can manage to attack the visitors’ mediocre passing defence in a similar fashion, then points are only a matter of time. After all, the Pats offense averaged 21.4 points. For that to happen, though, quarterback Mac Jones will finally need to play better again. The 2nd-year quarterback, who finished second in last season’s “Offensive Rookie of the Year” voting, is far from last year’s form. However, this must also be attributed to his maximum average pass receivers.
In addition, the Pats’ rushing offence has rarely been convincing. A top-8 run defence now awaits Rhamondre Stevenson. That he runs for well over 100 yards again, as he did against Las Vegas last week, seems out of the question in our forecast for the Patriots vs. The last running back to do that against Cincinnati was Nick Chubb in Week 8.
The defensive side is somewhat underrated, as this unit is the sixth best in the entire league. Both the pass and run defenses are operating at a high level, and as a result, New England is only conceding 19.2 points per game.
Key Players:
QB: Mac Jones
RB: Rhamondre Stevenson
WR: DeVante Parker
TE: Hunter Henry
K: Nick Folk
Cincinnati Bengals – Statistics & current form
As bad as the Bengals’ first half was against the Buccaneers last week, the second was all the better for it. They turned a 3:17 deficit, in quarters three and four, into a 34:17 lead. On the one hand, that was extremely impressive, on the other hand, the comeback was only possible because Tampa Bay made an incredible number of mistakes after the break. In the first four offensive series in the second half they committed four turnovers (two interceptions, two fumbles) and thus Cincinnati had to cover only a few yards to the end zone on four occasions.
Recently unconvincing
As a result, the game doesn’t have much meaning, except to say that the Bengals offense can be handled if the important pass receivers are covered very tightly. The Patriots defend opposing passes – statistically speaking – even better than the Bucs. Therefore, it is not out of the question that they can limit Joe Burrow and his offense similarly well.
On the ground, Cincinnati has not been able to do much damage lately, although with Joe Mixon and Samaje Perine both running backs could start again. Only 55 rushing yards were recorded last week. In the game between the Patriots and Bengals, it is therefore quite risky to predict that they will achieve better statistics.
When the opponent switches to the passing game, the franchise from Ohio State is definitely vulnerable. This was not least evident against the pass-oriented offenses of the Chiefs and Buccaneers. But that’s going to take better play from Mac Jones and his pass receivers.
Key Players:
QB: Joe Burrow
RB: Joe Mixon
WR: Ja’Marre Chase
TE: Hayden Hurst
K: Evan McPherson
New England Patriots – Cincinnati Bengals Head-to-head comparison / H2H record
The last duel took place when a certain Tom Brady was still the playmaker in New England. Back then – purely in terms of the win-loss record – under entirely different auspices. On 15.12.2019, the Bengals were the statistically worst team in the NFL. That’s exactly why the matchup back then has so little relevance to the upcoming game.
The Patriots have won four of their last five games. The last home defeat against Cincinnati was more than 36 years ago.
New England Patriots – Cincinnati Bengals betting tips
In sum, the visitors go into the Patriots vs. Bengals match-up as legitimate favourites. The odds for a win for the franchise from Ohio settle at 1.55. We also have no doubt that the visitors will win. Still, the New England coaching staff will take a close look at how the Buccaneers managed to partially shut down the Bengals offense. We don’t think it’s out of the question that they can at least partially succeed.
Nevertheless, we expect both teams to be able to score points during the game and therefore choose the recommendation that at least 15 points fall on both sides. The Patriots have managed that in ten of their 14 games, the Bengals in 13.
Between the Patriots and Bengals, it is also a good bet that one of the two best pass receivers of the visitors, Ja’Marr Chase or Tee Higgins, will score a touchdown.
