Los Angeles Chargers vs. Cincinnati Bengals Game Preview

The Los Angeles Chargers will travel to Cincinnati to take on the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati at 1 pm EST on CBS. The Bengals are coming into this game on a two-game winning streak, beating the Raiders and their division rival Steelers last weekend. The Bengals are holding down the second spot in the AFC North.

The Chargers also beat the Steelers a couple of weekends ago in a thrilling Sunday night game but fell to the Denver Broncos last weekend. They find themselves second in the AFC West behind the red-hot Kansas City Chiefs.

The Bengals are 7-4 currently and 3-1 in their division. In their divisional games, the Chargers are just below them at 6-5 and 2-1.

Let's look at the betting preview and keys to victory with both teams before this crucial AFC battle.

Odds

This week, the Bengals are 3 point favorites against the Chargers and have odds of -115 win against the spread. The Chargers have the odds of -105 at +3. The over/under for the game is 50.5, with odds of -110 to bet the over or under. The Moneyline is -160 and +140 for the Bengals and the Chargers, respectively.

Keys to Victory - Bengals

The Bengals have the sixth highest-scoring offense, scoring 28.1 points per game, behind the leadership of Joe Burrow through the air and the elusiveness of Joe Mixon on the ground. The Bengals' ability to balance their passing (55.4%) and rushing (44.6%) has been a key to their success and confusing defenses to keep them off-balanced.

The defense for the Bengals has also been exceptional at preventing their opponents from scoring, ranking sixth in the NFL in points allowed per game with 20.5. Their rush defense ranks in the top ten in most categories, but they have lacked the same success at defending the pass.

Their ability to reduce the number of penalties on both offense and defense has helped immensely in a category that has plagued this team for many years.

Keys to Victory - Chargers

The Chargers have been using high-scoring affairs to compete and win a considerable amount of games this season. They rank fourteenth in points per game with 25 and rank eighth in yards per game with 384. They mainly use their young stud QB Justin Herbert to beat teams through the air.

Their defense has been lacking this season, ranking 29th in points given up per game and 31st in third-down conversion percentage. Opponents find great success on the ground against them and run it often. It will be tough to stop Joe Mixon and his extensive running prowess.

Expected Outcome

Both offenses look deadly and won't have an issue scoring, but the difference between these two teams is on the defensive side. I expect this game to be close until the second half where the Bengals will start to wear down the defense and pull away.