Week eight of the NFL season comes to a close with a Hallowe’en showdown in the AFC North on the Monday Night Football as the Cleveland Browns welcome Ohio rivals Cincinnati Bengals in a tasty closer to the action.
These two teams go into the match in very different form but we know from their meetings in the past that often form goes out of the window these this pair collide and it will be interesting to see if that is the case here too.
Cleveland Browns
I think it is fair to say that the opening dozen weeks of the season were all about remaining in the hunt for the Cleveland Browns until DeShaun Watson returns from his suspension and when they opened up the campaign with two wins from their opening three matches those plans were going nicely. They have lost their last four matches though and head into this one with a 2-5 record and needing to win here as there probably isn’t a way back from 2-6 for the year.
Three of those four defeats have been by a field goal or less though so with a little bit more nerve and an ounce more luck they could easily be going into this match 4-3 for the campaign. The one thing they have to do is get back to running the ball strongly. That is the DNA of this team but they have come away from that. They are without a couple of receiving options here so you would think they will be forced to run the ball. Their defence obviously needs to stand up here too.
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Cincinnati Bengals
The Cincinnati Bengals head into enemy territory with a 4-3 record for the campaign and there are signs that the beaten Super Bowl team of last season are just starting to get up to speed ahead of another crack at reaching the big dance. The Bengals will have seen the Baltimore Ravens win earlier this week and they’ll be keen to match their result in order to keep pace with them in the race for the AFC North title.
All three of the Cincinnati defeats this season have been by a field goal so they could easily be 7-0 for the campaign but they are beginning to suffer some injuries which could derail them. Star receiver Ja’Marr Chase is missing here while a couple of defensive linebackers and tackles are bashed up which is not good. The keys to success for the Bengals here is the offensive line protecting Joe Burrow and then him finding the receiving options he has left.
Betting
I think in a normal world I would be looking to get on the Cincinnati Bengals here and would be doing so with a bit of confidence but predicting the outcome of matches this season has been notoriously tough. The other thing putting me off is the absence of Ja’Marr Chase which could lead to the passing game of the Bengals struggling a touch. I’m in no mood to back the Cleveland Browns though, although to be fair they haven’t been out of many games this season.
The bet I like here is for Nick Chubb to run for more than 81.5 yards. He hasn’t really been relevant in the four defeats the Cleveland Browns have suffered but with the Cincinnati pass defence exceptionally good the Browns should be pounding the run a lot more here, particularly with the Bengals defence bashed up a bit down the middle. Chubb has a good record against the Bengals and assuming he is involved more here I expect him to clear 81.5 yards.
Tips
Back N.Chubb – Over 81.5 rushing yards for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Betfair
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