By james art On Sunday, the Cincinnati Bengals will host the Las Vegas Raiders in a matchup of AFC rivals. After a rough start to the season, the Bengals have turned things around recently, while the Raiders are in the midst of a disaster of a season. Cincinnati is a 7.5 point favorite in this game, while the total for the game is 46.5. Here, we’ll take a closer look at Raiders vs. Bengals and give you our NFL betting picks for the game as well.
Raiders mired in long losing streak
The Las Vegas Raiders have lost four in a row heading into the Raiders vs. Bengals game on Sunday. Antonio Pierce’s team is 2-6 on the season after losing to the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs in Week 8. But the Raiders closed the gap in that game, coming within a touchdown of the league’s only undefeated team. Gardner Minshew was no embarrassment for the Raiders in this game, which is a step in the right direction at the quarterback position for Vegas.
The Bengals are running out of time to improve
Last week, the Cincinnati Bengals played at home against the Philadelphia Eagles. Cincinnati was blown out in that contest, losing 37-17 at home, with Joe Burrow and the Bengals offense unable to match the Eagles’. That put the Bengals at 3-5 on the season, with the Bengals already multiple times behind the Ravens and Steelers in the AFC North standings. A game like this is a must-win for the Bengals, who need to beat bad teams to have a chance to get back into the playoff picture.
Raiders vs Bengals Pick and Prediction
The Las Vegas Raiders are certainly one of the worst teams in the NFL this season. But betting that many points on the Cincinnati Bengals doesn’t seem advisable given how inconsistent their level of play has been this year. We’ll take the points with the visitors in this Raiders vs. Bengals matchup, even if we have to hold our noses as we root for Antonio Pierce’s team.