Bengals vs Saints: Odds, expert picks, analysis, predictions for NFL Week 10

The Bengals are set to take on the Saints on Sunday at Paul Brown Stadium, and neither the oddsmakers nor experts have too much faith in Cincinnati. Considering New Orleans just beat the unstoppable Rams, and Cincinnati backed into their bye week going 1-2 in the three weeks prior, it’s clear that the Bengals will have to embrace the underdog role this week.

Making things worse is that the team will be without A.J. Green as he deals with a toe injury.

Odds

The Bengals are currently six-point underdogs, according to Bovada. The one thing that probably helped the Bengals not be bigger underdogs is the fact they will be playing at home in a cold weather game against a dome team in the Saints.

The total for the game is set at 54 points, which for games that quarterback Drew Brees plays in, isn’t out of the ordinary. The Saints have a high octane offense led by Brees, but the cold winds from playing next to the Ohio River in November could slow down their passing attack. The Bengals being without Green will really hurt their offensive prospects despite playing one of the worst defenses in the NFL, but New Orleans’ passing defense is not much of a threat.

Trends for both teams:

• Cincinnati is 2-4 against the spread in its last six games
• Cincinnati is 7-3 straight up in its last 10 games
• The total has gone over in six of Cincinnati’s last nine games
• Cincinnati is 4-1 straight up in its last five games at home
• Cincinnati is 5-0 against the spread in its last five games when playing New Orleans
• Cincinnati is 4-1 straight up in its last five games when playing New Orleans
• The total has gone under in 5 of Cincinnati’s last seve games when playing New Orleans
• New Orleans is 5-0 against the spread in its last five games
• New Orleans is 5-0 straight up in its last five games
• New Orleans is 5-0 against the spread in its last five games on the road
• New Orleans is 4-1 straight up in its last five games on the road
• New Orleans is 0-5 against the spread in its last five games when playing Cincinnati
• New Orleans is 1-4 straight up in its last five games when playing Cincinnati
• The total has gone under in five of New Orleans’s last seven games when playing Cincinnati

Experts’ picks

• Fox sports is projecting a 26.1-22.3 victory for the Saints
• Only one of ESPN’s experts went with the Bengals
• One of SB Nation’s seven experts took Cincinnati
• Two experts chose the Bengals for CBS Sports
• NFL Pick Watch, which takes into account picks from across the web, only has the Bengals receiving six percent of the picks against the Saints.

It is pretty clear why the Bengals are such big underdogs. The Saints are fresh off a statement game where they handed the Rams their first loss of the season. Meanwhile, the Bengals have yet to prove they can beat any of the actual contenders this season. The season is full of chances for the Bengals to show the belong, though. A win this week would go a long way to changing the perspective of this team for the rest of the season.