Cincinnati Bengals at Jacksonville Jaguars: Sunday Pro Football Betting Preview

Cincinnati Bengals at Jacksonville Jaguars
Sunday, 10/9/11, 1:00 PM EST, TV: CBS
Opening Point Spread: Jacksonville -2.5
Current Betting Line: Cincinnati -1
Opening Total: 35.5
Current Total: 37
Odds Courtesy of Bookmaker

The Cincinnati Bengals have moved to slight road favorites Sunday in Jacksonville

Cincinnati stormed back to pick up a 23-20 win over the Buffalo Bills last week as three-point home underdogs and now travel to a historically tough place to play in Jacksonville. “We’re on the road, against another AFC team, and we have to show the same resolve we did against Buffalo,” commented Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis. “We’ve got to have the same kind of eye we had on the target with the Bills.” The Bengals will come in with the NFL’s top-ranked defense, allowing just 275.5 yards per game. On the other side of the ball, Cincinnati gained 458 yards last week, with 293 of those coming in the second half. Cincinnati is 17-20 ATS over the last two-plus seasons and the ‘over’ is 19-18 in those contests.

The Bengals have scored on all 12 possessions in the red zone this year, but has come away with seven field goals versus five touchdowns. Rookie Andy Dalton has fallen off a bit after starting the year with two 100-plus quarterback rating games, but did complete 11 of 16 passes for 182 yards in leading last week’s comeback. He currently has a 76.9 passer rating, which is good for 27th in the league.

Jacksonville has the league’s worst offense and rookie Blaine Gabbert is 0-2 as a starter in the NFL. The rookie out of Missouri completed 16 of 42 passes for 196 yards while throwing a touchdown and interception in last week’s 23-10 loss to the New Orleans Saints as nine-point home underdogs. The Jaguars have failed to cover their last three games, while also getting out-gained in each of those contests. Bouncing back is a definite possibility due to the team not losing consecutive home games since 2009. Jacksonville is 3-6 ATS as a favorite the last two-plus seasons, while the ‘over’ is 5-4 in those contests.

The Jaguars still rely heavily on running back Maurice Jones-Drew to get things going offensively, as he’s looking for his second 100-yard rushing game this season. He is averaging 97.7 rushing yards through the first four games. Jacksonville does lead this series, 11-6, including wins in four of the last five meetings. Offensively, the team is averaging just 264.3 yards per game, which includes a dismal 137.5 passing yards. Luckily, the defense ranks 12th in the league and has picked off five passes.