Are the Bengals a safe bet in Week 16?

NFL Week 14 Free Picks: Cincinnati At Cleveland

Written by on December 8, 2016

There are a few teams in the NFL who have been so bad in recent years that fans go into the new season with low expectations. As bad as the Cleveland Browns have been in the past, I don’t think anyone believed that they would start the season at 0-12. While some of this has been down to the Browns being the Browns, they have also been terribly unlucky at the QB position, as everyone who has started this season has ended up going down for some period of time with an injury. What fans are now wondering is whether this team will go ahead and tank the rest of the season, or if they will find a way to somehow pull out a win that would prevent them going 0-16, just like the Detroit Lions of a few years back. This weekend might be their best chance to get that win, as they will be hosting a Cincinnati Bengals team that has seriously underwhelmed this year. The Bengals come into this one as a 5.5-point online betting favorite.

Here’s A Closer Look At The NFL Week 14 Free Picks: Bengals At Browns

When: Saturday, December 11 at 1 PM EST Where: FirstEnergy Stadium, Cleveland TV: CBS Radio: WCKY and WKRK Live Stream: CBS Sports Network NFL Odds: TBA  
 

Why bet on the Cincinnati Bengals

The Cincinnati Bengals have been surprisingly poor offensively this season, and it is beginning to look as though their window of opportunity to win a Super Bowl has closed. Andy Dalton has been largely ineffective at QB, but hasn’t really been helped by the loss of AJ Green to injury. That said, the Bengals did give a little show as to what they might be able to do against a struggling team when they put 32 points on the board against the Philadelphia Eagles last week. Cincinnati handled the Browns 31-17 earlier this season, and have now beaten those 4 in a row. The playoffs are gone, but finishing strong is still a priority.

Why bet on the Cleveland Browns

There really is nothing to like about this team, no matter how hard you dig down to find something positive. Not only are they winless this season, they are also just 2-10 ATS, which includes being 0-6 ATS at home. The rumor is that RGIII may be back under center this week, but as he has been out since Week 1, you need to wonder how effective he will be in his first game back. You need to go back more than 2 years to find the last time that the Browns were able to pick up a win against the Bengals, and it’s hard to see any way that they are able to get anything out of this one.  

Expert Pick and Final Score Prediction

There are probably more people now pulling for the Browns to go winless this season than those hoping they can pull one out. I have a feeling that Cleveland are going to make those looking for futility a happy bunch.

Cincinnati Bengals 27 Cleveland Browns 13