Jacksonville Jaguars at Cincinnati Bengals Thursday Night Football Betting Preview

The winless Jacksonville Jaguars (0-3) will travel to Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati to face the Cincinnati Bengals (2-1) for a primetime Thursday Night Football matchup at 8:20 pm EST on NFL Network.

This will be a battle of the young quarterbacks with rookie Trevor Lawrence facing off against the second year quarterback Joe Burrow. Cincinnati will look to continue their solid start to the season after beating their rivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers, comfortably 24-10. The Bengals sit at the top of the AFC North.

Jacksonville has lost its first three games of the season against the Houston Texans, Denver Broncos, and Arizona Cardinals behind a rookie quarterback and first year head coach, Urban Meyer.

Odds

The Bengals are a 7 point favorite with odds of -110 to bet on the Bengals at that spread. The Jaguars, at +7, have the same odds to bet on them. The over/under for the game is set at 45.5 with the same odds of -110 to bet either the over or the under.

The under has hit in two of Jacksonville’s last three games and seven of Cincinnati’s last 10 games. Cincinnati is also 6-2 against the spread in their last eight home games.

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Bengals Keys to Victory

The reason the Bengals have been winning so much is that they have been able to score when they get into the red zone. They convert 83.33% of red zone opportunities into touchdowns. They need to continue to capitalize on their red-zone trips to alleviate any issues on the defensive side.

Joe Mixon was able to average five yards per carry with 90 total yards in the win vs. Pittsburgh. It was apparent that because the run was working so well, Burrow had more time in the pocket on the passing plays. With the successful balance between run and pass plays, the Bengals' offense looks very solid.

Jaguars Keys to Victory

The Jaguars have a lot of holes in their team besides their young quarterback. He has had a tough start especially with a poor offensive line in front of him. He is only completing 54.2 percent of his passes and has seven interceptions and five touchdowns. They have a solid passing attack with talented receivers but too many holes to fill on the team currently.

The Jaguars will need to win with their offense because their defense needs help. They have lost each game by 10 or more points, and no game has felt like it was close. The Jaguars will hope that their offense is clicking on all cylinders or the Bengals make some crucial mistakes to win this game.

Expected Outcome

The Bengals should be able to take care of business in this one at home. The Jaguars feel similar to the Bengals last year, but the Bengals have grown some and it has shown in their first three games.