Bengals Jaguars Spread

Written by Jack Jones

The Cincinnati Bengals travel to face the Jacksonville Jaguars Sunday in a battle between two rookie starting quarterbacks. Blaine Gabbert was taken in the first round as the 10th overall pick by the Jaguars, while Andy Dalton was selected in the second round and 35th overall by the Bengals. So far, it looks like Cincinnati has gotten the better end of that deal.

According to the Week 5 NFL lines, they have set a spread of Jacksonville -1 over Cincinnati with a total set of 37 points.

Cincinnati

The Bengals have been much more competitive than they were expected to be coming into the season. Cincinnati (2-2) could be 4-0 right now had a few more breaks gone their way, because all four of their games have gone right down to the wire. They opened the season with a 27-17 win at Cleveland, followed by back-to-back losses to Denver and San Francisco by a combined seven points. They trailed Buffalo 20-3 last week, but stormed all the way back to top the previously unbeaten Bills 23-20. Cincinnati outgained Buffalo 458-273, and won it on a Mike Nugent 43-yard field goal as time expired.

Dalton has played about as well as anyone could have predicted thus far. The rookie quarterback is completing 58.1 percent of his passes for 868 yards and four touchdowns to four interceptions. His favorite target has been fellow rookie A.J. Green, who has 19 receptions for 312 yards and two touchdowns. Second-year tight end Jermaine Gresham has 16 grabs for 187 yards and two scores as well. Cedric Benson continues being productive in the running game, rushing for 348 yards and a score.

Believe it or not, Cincinnati features the No. 1 ranked unit in total defense (275.6 yards/game) in the league. They are 3rd against the pass (188.8 yards/game) and 7th against the run (86.8 yards/game). The Bengals are 20th in total offense (340.4 yards/game) while featuring a balanced attack with 115.2 yards/game on the ground and 225.2 yards/game through the air. This is a team that is certainly a lot better than they get credit for.

Jacksonville

The Jaguars had problems at quarterback coming into the year when they decided to let David Garrard go right before the start of the regular season. Those same problems are still haunting Jacksonville (1-3), and they don’t appear to be going away any time soon. The Jaguars opened their season with a 16-14 victory over Tennessee, but it’s been all downhill from there. They have suffered three straight losses to the Jets, Panthers and Saints by a combined score of 71-23.

Gabbert has taken over for Luke McCown at quarterback, and while he’s been a little more effective, he’s still not playing at a high level. The rookie has completed just 47.8 percent of his passes for 387 yards and two touchdowns to two interceptions. Maurice Jones-Drew has been a bright spot for the offense, rushing for 391 yards (5.1/carry) and a touchdown. Mike Thomas has proven to be their only playmaker at receiver, catching 20 balls for 212 yards and a score.

This Jacksonville offense ranks just 31st in total offense (264.3 yards/game). They are 6th in rushing (126.8 yards/game), but just 31st in passing (137.5 yards/game). The Jaguars do feature a young, up-and-coming defense that has played pretty well this year. Their stop unit ranks 12th in total defense (335.8 yards/game), giving up 107.0 yards/game on the ground and 228.8 yards/game through the air.

Betting Trends

Jacksonville has won eight of the last ten meetings in this series, though Cincinnati won the last meeting by a final of 21-19 at home in 2008. The Bengals are 1-5-1 ATS in their last 7 meetings in Jacksonville.

The Jaguars are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games as a favorite, and 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games as a home favorite of 0.5-3.0. Jacksonville is just 1-6 ATS in their last 7 games overall.

The Bengals are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games overall, 5-0 ATS in their last 5 games as an underdog, and 8-1 ATS in their last 9 games as an underdog of 0.5-3.0. Cincinnati is 3-8 ATS in their last 11 vs. a team with a losing record.

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