Baltimore at Cincinnati NFL Week 2 Odds & Preview

The Baltimore Ravens and the Cincinnati Bengals each play their first AFC North game on Thursday night when they meet during prime time in the Queen City. The Bengals rolled to a 34-23 win over Indianapolis despite 319 yards from Andrew Luck, getting 95 yards from tailback Joe Mixon and 92 receiving yards from A.J. Green. The Ravens delivered a 47-3 beating of the Buffalo Bills in their opener as Joe Flacco threw for 236 yards and the Ravens made Buffalo quarterback Nathan Peterman turn in a zero QBR for his efforts. Take a look at our NFL Week 2 betting preview for this week’s midweek prime time extravaganza.

Baltimore at Cincinnati NFL Week 2 Odds & Preview

LFW: Victory over the Bills sends the Ravens soaring in power rankings. 📰: https://t.co/XQjsJOM6Mu pic.twitter.com/neefr5rtyT

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) September 11, 2018

When: Thursday, September 13, 2018, 8:20pm ET Where: Paul Brown Stadium, Cincinnati TV: NFL Network Radio: Westwood One Live Stream: NFL Live NFL Odds: Cincinnati -1, O/U 44

Why should you bet on the Ravens?

If Baltimore can win, that would give them three consecutive 2-0 starts to the regular season. They come into Paul Brown Stadium with a 4-4 record in their last eight games away from home. However, they appear to show up with a rejuvenated Joe Flacco, as he completed 73.5 percent of his passes in the opener, including three touchdown passes without a pick. That gives him five games out of six with at least two touchdown passes, but the arrival of Lamar Jackson on the roster appears to have given him a little bit more energy in the pocket. We’ll see how he does against a stout Bengals defense, but he looked solid against the Bills. On defense, the Ravens played an almost perfect game, permitting just 153 offensive yards to Buffalo. To be fair, the Bills don’t have an NFL-caliber quarterback (and it’s hard to imagine why Colin Kaepernick wouldn’t be better than Nathan Peterman as the Bills wait for Josh Allen to mature and for their O-line to figure out how to block, but that’s beyond the scope of this article), and the Ravens will face Andy Dalton this week, who played well against Indianapolis in the opener. If you like Baltimore, you see their traditionally stout defense dousing the Bengals’ momentum.

Why should you put your money on the Bengals?

Cincinnati enters this game having won four of their last six games at home and looked solid in their win over the Colts. Dalton completed 75 percent of his passes and threw a pair of touchdown passes — along with an interception. That makes eight games for Dalton in his last 12 with at least a pair of scoring passes. The Bengals broke the 100-yard barrier on the ground, led by Mixon’s 95 yards and a score. The defense for Cincinnati looked pretty good against the Colts for an opener. Andrew Luck appears to be back at 100% at quarterback for the Colts, but the Bengals were able to absorb the plays that he made and exploit the holes in the Colt defense. Nick Vigil led the Bengals with 11 tackles on the day. The Bengals didn’t apply a whole lot of pressure, as Geno Atkins led the team with a single sack, but they were able to shut down the Colts’ running game and force a lot of third-and-long situations. If they can do the same thing against the Ravens, they should be able to force a lot of short possessions.

Expert Pick and Final Score Prediction

Cincinnati has won eight of the last 11 contests between these two teams, and they typically have one of the stronger defenses in the AFC. The issues for the Bengals come on offense, and if the Ravens can keep Dalton and Mixon off the field, they should be able to win. Baltimore does have to travel on the short week, and the lack of preparation that takes place ahead of these Thursday night games tends to make for shoddy football. I like John Harbaugh’s coaching ability here more than Marvin Lewis’, though, so I like Baltimore to come in here and take a divisional game. NFL Week 2 Score Prediction: Baltimore 23, Cincinnati 20