NFL Football: Cincinnati Bengals at Oakland Raiders

By BetOnline November 16, 2019

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As the Kansas City Chiefs prepare for Monday Night Football, the Oakland Raiders are a heavy favorite to win on Sunday. That means that by Sunday night, the Raiders could be tied atop the AFC West with the Chiefs. Even though Kansas City owns the tiebreaker, nobody would have ever guessed these two teams could be tied in the standings this late in the season.

Standing in front of the Raiders is a Cincinnati Bengals team that’s winless and has hardly been competitive. As long as the Raiders don’t come out sloppy, they should cruise here.

CINCINNATI BENGALS AT OAKLAND RAIDERS
NFL ODDS: RAIDERS -10.5
NFL TOTAL: 48.5

WHY THE BENGALS WILL COVER THE SPREAD

The Raiders are winning more games but that doesn’t mean they are blowing teams away. Their margins of victory in their wins this season have been by eight, seven, three, seven, and two points. Also, those wins have come over the Denver Broncos, Indianapolis Colts, Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, and Los Angeles Chargers. It’s been a good year for Oakland but it’s not as if their five wins have come against the best teams in the league.

The Bengals, meanwhile, have often been competitive. They lost by one point on the road to the 8-2 Seattle Seahawks, limited the Los Angeles Rams to just 24 points, were tied with the Arizona Cardinals late in regulation before losing on a last-play field goal, lost by just six points at the Baltimore Ravens a month ago, and by only 10 to the Jacksonville Jaguars. The doors were blown off last week in a 49-13 drubbing but this team has mostly kept it close. They’re a bad team but they aren’t getting crushed every week.

They should also get a boost with the return of A.J. Green, who has yet to play a game this season. It’s not going to hurt getting a Pro Bowl-caliber receiver out there – especially against the league’s third-worst pass defense.

WHY THE RAIDERS WILL COVER THE SPREAD

Even though the Raiders have not yet scored a decisive win this season – all their wins have been close – they can change that against the Bengals. The Cincinnati offensive line took a hit before the season even started, with Jonah Williams – the team’s first-round draft pick – getting hurt. That’s proved to be just one of many issues along the line as they’ve been flat-out terrible. They’re getting no push in the ground game and they’re giving up 3.4 sacks per game – the fifth-worst mark.

For the Raiders, the formula should be quite easy here: just pound the rock and run to a win. The Bengals allow just over 170 rushing yards per game – by far the most in the NFL. The Raiders have a stud in rookie running back Josh Jacobs and with Oakland’s road-grading offensive line, they should be able to get to 150+ yards easily. If that’s the case, Oakland shouldn’t have to sweat too much in this one.

TAKING A LOOK AT THE TOTAL

The LaMarcus Joyner injury for the Raiders and the return of Green for the Bengals might help Cincinnati score in the 20-point range. If that’s the case, and Oakland’s offense contributes 30+ as I’m expecting, this game will get over the number.