Colts vs. Bengals Team Pick
Can the Cincinnati Bengals find some offense when they play host to the Indianapolis Colts this Sunday at 1PM ET?
According to oddsmakers at Bovada.lv, Cincinnati is the clear favorite, as the Bengals are getting odds of -11 points against the Colts. The over/under total for the contest has been set at 41.5 points. The home team has won seven straight meetings in this series and the two have hit the under in their last two meetings. The public betting in this one has Indy getting 51 percent of the wagers. Sunday’s game takes place from Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio and will air live on CBS.
The Colts are coming off a 27-0 loss to the Jaguars last week to fall to 2-5 on the season. Indy is 5-2 with the over this year, hitting it in all three road games this season. The Colts have struggled this season without Andrew Luck able to play yet. They are averaging 17 points and 316.9 yards per game on offense. Jacoby Brissett has thrown for 1,409 yards and three touchdowns while also rushing for 129 yards and three scores. Frank Gore is the leading rusher with 322 yards while T.Y. Hilton has 27 catches for 512 yards. Defensively, Indy is allowing 31.7 points and 435.6 yards per game. The Colts are giving up over 300 passing yards per game.
Cincinnati is coming off a 29-14 loss at Pittsburgh last week to fall to 2-4 on the season. The Bengals are 4-2 with the under, hitting it in all three home games this season. The Bengals have struggled on offense this year, averaging just 16.3 points and 308.5 yards per game. Andy Dalton has thrown for 1,360 yards and nine touchdowns, but also has eight interceptions and has been sacked 19 times. A.J. Green has caught 35 passes for 545 yards and three touchdowns while Joe Mixon has 235 rushing yards. Defensively, the Bengals are allowing just 18.7 points and 307.3 yards per game. Their pass defense is holding opponents under 200 yards per contest.
The Bengals may be able to find some success on offense this week against a poor Indianapolis secondary. Indy isn’t likely to find much success moving the ball on the road against this Cincy defense. The Colts just don’t have the playmakers to make big plays. The Bengals have hit the under in five straight home games and in 11 of their last 13 against a losing team. I expect it to hit again this weekend.
NFL WEEK 8 PREDICTION: COLTS/BENGALS UNDER 41.5