Bengals at Colts: Betting trends, expert picks and predictions

The oddsmakers and experts aren’t really fans of the Bengals, which isn’t a new revelation. What is new is how down they seem to be on them compared to a team like the Colts. Joe Burrow had a welcoming to the NFL last week in Baltimore, and that has seemed to scare people off of his hype train a bit. Here is what the oodsmakers and experts think of this matchup.

Odds

The Bengals are currently eight-point underdogs to the Colts, according to Bovada. It isn’t hard to see why after the Bengals offense failed to lift off on Sunday, and the game will take place in Indianapolis. Last week was the first game where they Bengals weren’t within one score against their opponent, though, and the Colts are nowhere near the same level of team as the Ravens.

Betting trends

• Cincinnati is 4-1-1 against the spread in their last six games.
• The total has gone over in six of Cincinnati’s last nine games.
• Cincinnati is 3-16-1 straight up in their last 20 games.
• Cincinnati is 4-9 straight up in their last 13 games against Indianapolis.
• Cincinnati is 0-14-1 straight up in their last 15 games on the road.
• Cincinnati is 1-8 straight up in their last nine games when playing on the road against Indianapolis.
• The total has gone over in six of Cincinnati’s last eight games against an opponent in the AFC.
• The total has gone over in four of Cincinnati’s last six games against an opponent in the AFC South.
• Cincinnati is 2-7 against the spread in their last nine games played in October.
• The total has gone over in four of Indianapolis’ last six games against Cincinnati.
• Indianapolis is 13-3 straight up in their last 16 games at home.
• Indianapolis is 8-1 straight up in their last nine games when playing at home against Cincinnati.
• The total has gone Over in four of Indianapolis’ last five games against an opponent in the AFC.
• The total has gone over in five of Indianapolis’ last seven games against an opponent in the AFC North.
• Indianapolis is 5-2 against the spread in their last seven games played in October.
• Indianapolis is 4-13-2 against the spread in their last 19 games played in week 6.

Expert picks

• ESPN has all 10 of their experts picking the Colts
• One of SB Nation’s 10 experts took a chance on the Bengals
• None of CBS Sports experts went with Cincinnati
• NFL Pick Watch, which takes into account picks from across the web, only has the Bengals receiving eight percent of the picks

It is pretty surprising that this seems to be such a one-sided matchup in the eyes of the experts. The Colts have played well, but they have had plenty of lapses in their play. They have beaten some struggling teams, but they also have a loss to the Jaguars on their record. This isn’t to say the Bengals have been outstanding, but I think the experts are being a little too reactionary to last week’s loss.

Prediction

For those hoping Burrow gets back to what we saw prior to Baltimore may have to keep waiting. The Colts are going to be capable of frustrating the rookie just like Baltimore did. The one question will be how much did the rookie learn from that game?

The Bengals defense has played fairly well the past two weeks, and one huge difference last week was the amount of times defenders were able to get their hands on passes for possible interceptions. Unfortunately, they dropped a couple, but facing a quarterback like Philip Rivers always presents more opportunities for turnovers to help out an offense trying to hit its stride again.

This game may be more on the lower side of scoring as it is possible that these defenses match up fairly well with the offenses they are facing. This game probably comes down to which quarterback takes care of the ball better. Considering the state of these offensive lines, it is more likely Burrow will be forced into tough situations than Rivers.

Bengals: 17 — Colts: 24