NFL Sunday Night Preview: Cincinnati Bengals vs. New England Patriots

Cincinnati Bengals vs. New England Patriots
Sunday, 10/5/14, 8:30 PM EST
Opening Point Spread: New England PK
Current Betting Line: New England PK
Opening Total: 46
Current Total: 46
Odds Courtesy of Bookmaker

Patriots Jets AFC Playoff Preview — The New England Patriots are looking to bounce back in another primetime event against the Cincinnati Bengals

Cincinnati is 3-0 SUATS and off its bye week for the 2014 campaign, while it has gone UNDER the total in every contest. The Bengals have one of the more balanced offensive attacks in the league, which is important to consider when making your Week 5 NFL betting picks, with Andy Dalton through the air and Giovani Bernard on the ground. Dalton’s 33 victories since being drafted out of TCU trails only New England’s Tom Brady in that category for quarterbacks. Cincinnati is 5-2 SU and 5-1-1 ATS as road underdogs of three or fewer points the last two-plus seasons.

The Bengals are really looking to turn the corner, as they went 11-5 during the 2013 campaign, but were unable to earn the franchise’s first postseason victory since 1990. Dalton is hoping that Marvin Jones will return to the lineup at Gillette Stadium in this NBC Sunday Night Football broadcast, as he had nine red-zone touchdowns a year ago, which was five more than any of his teammates.

New England returns home after suffering a humiliating 41-14 defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs as three-point road favorites on ESPN’s Monday Night Football, as it was out-gained by 153 yards in that affair. The Patriots have won 10 consecutive home games, which can’t be ignored when looking over the NFL betting lines, especially with Brady motivated to prove his recent critics wrong. New England is 5-6 SU and 6-5 ATS in games where the betting line is +3 to -3 since 2012, with the OVER going 7-4 in that situation.

The Patriots will need to play better on the defensive end in hopes of handing the Bengals their first loss of the season, as they’ve allowed five red-zone touchdown passes. Brady must do a better job of extending drives to keep Cincinnati’s potent offense on the sidelines, as his 79.1 passer rating his 29th among signal-callers, as he’s completed just 59.1 percent of his pass attempts.