The New Orleans Saints will play the Cincinnati Bengals in an inter-conference afternoon showdown at the Paul Brown Stadium on Sunday 11/11/18.
Both teams are coming off wins as the Saints dealt the Los Angeles Rams their first loss of the season last week while the Bengals defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before taking a bye week.
The Saints outdueled the previously unbeaten Rams 45-35 at home last week, making them the league’s new hottest team with seven wins in a row. Drew Brees threw for 346 yards with four touchdowns without a turnover against the Rams. Brees’ favorite target Michael Thomas caught 211 passing yards and had one score to help the Saints beat the Rams
Brees is having a remarkable season, completing 76.3% of his passes while throwing for a total of 2,236 passing yards with 18 scores and just one pick off. Alvin Kamara has scored 9 touchdowns on the ground and has rushed for a total of 490 yards this season. Michael Thomas has caught 70 passes for 880 yards with 5 touchdowns.
The Cincinnati Bengals head to this contest against the Saints well rested after getting a bye week. Before that, Cincinnati defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 37-34 to end a two game losing skid. Andy Dalton threw for 280 yards and had two touchdowns for the Bengals in that contest.
Dalton has thrown for 2,102 passing yards this season with a 17:8 TD to turnover ratio. Dalton has thrown a total of five touchdowns in his last three games played. Running back Joe Mixon has rushed for at least 80 yards in five out of his last 6 games while the Bengals suffered a major setback as wide receiver A.J. Green suffered a toe injury which will force him to miss a few games including this one.
The Saints are 5-0 SU in their last 5 games played and 4-1 SU in their last 5 games on the road. The Bengals are 7-3 SU in their last 10 games and 4-1 SU in their last 5 home games. Head to head, the Bengals are 4-1 SU in their last 5 games against the Saints. New Orleans is an immaculate 4-0 on the road this season while the Cincinnati is 3-1 at home.
The Saints passed their biggest test of the season when they dealt the Los Angeles Rams their first loss of the season. Drew Brees continues to defy father time with an MVP caliber season. He will be up against the worst pass defense in the league. This has the recipe for a big night from Brees and the Saints.
Moreover, the Saints have the top rush defense in the league and without wide receiver AJ Green, the Saints are going to rattle Joe Mixon on the ground. With Cincinnati’s defense among the worst in the NFL, the New Orleans offense should shine. We’re picking the New Orleans Saints to beat the Cincinnati Bengals on 11/11/18.
The Saints are 5-0 ATS in their last 5 games played, 5-0 ATS in their last five games on the road and 5-1 ATS in their last six Week 10 games. The Bengals are 2-4 ATS in their last 6 games and 1-4 ATS in their last 5 week 10 games. Cincinnati is 1-4 ATS in their last 6 games after scoring more than 30 in their previous game while New Orleans is 5-1 ATS under the same circumstance.
The Saints are playing excellent football right now and honestly, I don’t think anyone can stop them right now. But not only are they 11-1 SU in their last 12 afternoon games, they are also 13-3 ATS in their last 16 games against teams with winning records.
Interestingly, the Bengals are a solid 9-1-1 ATS in their last 11 home games as underdogs but without Green, those numbers may be meaningless. The Bengals rank in the bottom in many defensive categories and the Saints have a high powered offense that should give them enough points to cover the spread. Prediction: Saints -5.5
The total has gone over in 6 out of the last 9 games for the Bengals but the total has gone under in 5 out of the last 7 games between Cincinnati and New Orleans. The under is 5-1 in the Bengals’ last 6 week 10 games and the under is also 6-2 in the Saints’ last 8 games after scoring at least 30 points in their previous game.
The under is 3-1 in New Orleans’s four road games this season and the under is also 2-2 in Cincinnati’s 4 home games this year. 54 is quite a high total for this game. The Bengals’ offense looks to struggle without wideout A.J. Green who’s out with a toe injury. The Saints’ defense are going to put the pressure on Nixon on the ground and double team Boyd. No problem with the Saints putting up the numbers but I don’t think the Bengals can keep up with them. Prediction: Under 54
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