Baltimore Ravens
vs.
Cincinnati Bengals
Week 1
NFL Pick
Analysis
By Jason Green
9/10/17
The Ravens have not made the playoffs in the last two seasons and they were 8-8 last season. The defense got it done last season ranking 6th in the league, but the offense sputtered and Joe FlACCo and company need to better this season and he has some new weapons at his disposal. While Baltimore beat CiNCy at home in the middle of the season they lost badly 27-10 on the road facing them in the season finale.
Last season was the first since Andy Dalton entered the league that the Bengals missed the playoffs. CiNCy was hit hard last season by the injury bug, but they are healthy and look to get back to the post-season. Dalton has the weapons and the offense should be solid, but the defense has some issues for a unit that ranked 17th in the league last season.
In the preseason the Ravens were a perfect 4-0 and the Bengals were a less than perfect 1-3.
In the off-season the Ravens went out and got WR Jeremy MAClin and RB Danny Woodhead and they are hoping they can help ignite an offense that only ranked 26th in the league last season. FlACCo still does not have a great WR corps and TerreNCe West is the lead RB and last season while rushing for 774 yards with 5 TD and only averaged 3.6 yards per carry when facing the Bengals last season. The offense still is a question mark, which is why their D plays well to keep them in Games.
Last season WR AJ Green missed the last six Games of the season and TE Tyler Eifert missed half of the season. Dalton still passed for over 4.000 yards last season, but he has had trouble when facing Baltimore in his career with only 12 TD in 11 Games facing them. RB Jeremy Hill is nursing an injured ankle will go in this Game and the team is high on rookie Joe Mixon, who had off-the-field issues that caused his draft stock to fall.
The Bengals have some playmakers on offense, but have a below average offensive line and they have to keep the Ravens out of the backfield and open up holes. On defense they brought in LB Kevin Minter and CB William Jackson, but they don’t have a good pass rush and they did not rank in the top 20 in the NFL last season defending the run.
The Ravens are 1-6 ATS in their last 7 road Games, 8-1 ATS in their last 9 vs. AFC North, and in their last 5 Games they have an Over record of 4-1.
The Bengals are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 Games overall, 18-6-2 ATS in their last 26 Games in September, and they have an Under record of 4-0 in their last 4 Games.
The Bengals are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 Games against the Ravens and 3-0-1 ATS in their last 4 home Games facing them.
Jason’s Pick: The Bengals are 3-0-1 ATS in their last Four opening Games and look for that trend to continue. FlACCo will have trouble moving the chains and while they will not get blown out they will lose. In a low scoring Game the Bengals will get the W and cover the spread.
Bettorsworld Pick – Might be a good one to avoid. If FlACCo were 100% we’d look to take the field goal with the Ravens here. However, due to the FlACCo injury, we’re going to watch this one from the sidelines.