Bengals vs. Ravens betting odds, spread, over/under and prediction

Week 10 kicks off with a battle of AFC North heavyweights as Joe Burrow and the Bengals take on Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens. The Bengals have overcome a slow start to the season and seem to be playing their best football, but they know there is little margin for error. The Ravens have looked like one of the top teams in the AFC, but they are still recovering from a shock loss to the Browns two weeks ago.

Bengals vs. Ravens: the match up

The Bengals will be in desperation mode from here until the end of the regular season after their horrific start to the season that saw them lose their opening three games and four of their first five. Unconvincing wins against the Giants and Browns stopped the Bengals’ bleeding momentarily but then the Eagles came into Cincy and stomped them 37-17. Joe Burrow showed little signs of panic, claiming that 10 wins usually gets you into the playoffs so the challenge ahead is clear. They Bengals have little margin for error and finally played like a team facing elimination last week against the Raiders. Burrow threw for five TDs as the defense locked down Gardner Minshew and the Las Vegas offense to get their first win stretch where they can only afford one or two losses from here until the end of the season.

They will be hoping to get a second straight win on a short week in Baltimore, but it’s going to be a lot tougher than their game against the Raiders. They have to go into the Ravens house and try to steal a win on the road, against a hated divisional opponent that looks like the best team in the league when everything is clicking. Last week against the Broncos everything was clicking. They got Derrick Henry involved early and let him wear the defense out for four quarters as Lamar Jackson picked apart the Denver defense. Henry had another 100 yard game as Jackson went 16/19 for 280 yards and three TDs as the Ravens rebounded from their stunning loss to the Browns the week before. They will look to keep rolling this Thursday, but will be expecting another tough divisional test against a Bengals team that is trying to fend off elimination.

These two division rivals have a long and heated history that dates back to the mid 90s when the Ravens joined the NFL all the way up until their Week 5 overtime shootout that the Ravens won with a Justin Tucker field goal. The Ravens lead the series 31-27 and have taken the last three matchups against Cincy. All three of those games were high scoring games that had more than 50 total points between the two teams.

Odds, spread and Over/Under

The Bengals have been a depiction of inconsistency over the first half of the season. Even when they win, they don’t play particularly well. Last week was the first time they looked like a team living up to their potential, but this week they are back to being underdogs in Baltimore. The Ravens come into the game as 6.5 point favorites with the Over/Under set at 52.5.

Prediction

One thing we can be sure of is there will be points in this game. Joe Burrow will keep the Bengals in the game, but can they keep pace with the highflying Ravens offense led by Lamar Jackson? The over is looking juicier than either team with that 6.5 point spread. If I had to pick someone to cover the spread, I would take the Bengals given Baltimore’s tendency to let teams back in games in the fourth quarter.

Ravens win 35-31.