Cincinnati Bengals vs. Baltimore Ravens Sunday Night Football Betting Preview

A classic AFC North matchup is coming to M&T Bank Stadium this week on primetime Sunday Night Football. The 2-2 Baltimore Ravens host the 2-2 Cincinnati Bengals in what should be an electric matchup with division implications heading into week five as both teams look to pick up their first divisional win. 

🏈 Want to place a risk-free bet on this Sunday Night Football matchup? Visit betJACK Training Camp to get in the game today! 🏈

The Favorite: Ravens (-175)

It’s tough to tell what this Baltimore Ravens' team ceiling truly is. They have two wins via the New York Jets and New England Patriots. 

Still, two heartbreaking conference losses have put a cloud of uncertainty over a talented team led by former MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson. The Baltimore offense has been banging on all cylinders as Lamar Jackson bounced back from last season’s poor showing to deliver MVP-caliber statistics again this season, in which he holds the second best odds to win. 

Despite this offense scoring, the Baltimore defense has honestly held this team back. Something uncommon with past Ravens teams, as team defense has always been a strong point. 

The Ravens let former defensive coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale walk this offseason, and so far, the defense has given up two significant leads to the Dolphins and Bills in the past four weeks.

 They will need their defense to pull it all together against a Bengals offense that loves to find their star wide receivers downfield. 

The Bengals ML (+150)

This line is certainly enticing to me and probably a lot of others. Despite a slow start with some embarrassing close losses against the Cowboys and Steelers to start the season, the Joe Burrow-led Bengals seem to be returning to the well-rounded team play that took them to the Super Bowl last season. 

With an unimpressive win over the Dolphins on Thursday Night Football, the rest of the world hasn't genuinely bought into the Bengals this season. 

Coming into another primetime matchup as an underdog bodes well for a team who finds comfort in being counted out. The Bengals defense is improving, but containing Lamar Jackson isn’t an easy task. Fortunately, the Bengals offense can be an unstoppable unit if they get some momentum going early. 

Ja’marr Chase has been relatively quiet considering his expectations this season, but a lot of that is due to him receiving focused attention from opposing teams' secondary. Tee Higgins has thrived picking apart the defenses that choose to blanket Ja’marr, and because of that, the Ravens might feel pressured to play them honestly. 

The Spread: Ravens -3.5

It’s tough to predict who will win, but with the over/under being 47.5, it's safe to say this game will be a shootout, with both kickers needing to be ready to put their team over the top in the closing moments. 

Cincinnati sits at .500 against the spread, and with a struggling Ravens defense, I'd have my eyes on the increasing likelihood that Cincinnati covers. 

Zac Taylor and John Harbaugh are both aware and accustomed to each others tendencies so this game truly might come down to the “Jimmy’s and Joe’s” instead of the X’s and O’s. We’ll tune in Sunday night at 8:20 to see who truly wants this win more.