AFC North: Week 9 Preview
The Baltimore Ravens need a win in Cleveland to avoid any more headaches.
As far as bizarre endings go, you won’t find many that are kookier than this past Thursday’s finish between the Cincinnati Bengals and Miami Dolphins.
The Thursday Night Football game kick-started Week 9 in the NFL, with the AFC North team coming up on the wrong end of an overtime safety.
BettingSports.com now brings you a recap of that game and a preview of Sunday’s AFC North fixtures.
Cincinnati Bengals 20, Miami Dolphins 22 (OT)
A safety in overtime crushed the Bengals.
Halloween brought with it a horror show for the Cincinnati Bengals.
While the Bengals were fairly impressive on the field, mistakes proved costly for Marvin Lewis’s team. Quarterback Andy Dalton completed 32 of 55 passes on the day, but his three interceptions – one of which was returned 94 yards for a touchdown by Brent Grimes and another led to a field goal on the stroke of halftime – proved very costly.
Dalton’s Miami counterpart, Ryan Tannehill, was happy to see the Bengal’ triggerman sacked five times, while he was sacked just three times, something of a moral victory for the most-sacked quarterback in the NFL. Tannehill finished the day 20 of 28 for 208 yards and a rushing touchdown.
The two teams were inseparable at the end of the fourth quarter, forcing an overtime session, the Bengals’ second against an AFC East opponent this season.
The teams traded punts to open the extra session before the Bengals forced the Dolphins to punt a second time. The Bengals began the ensuing drive on Miami’s 8-yard line with Dalton missing a pair of passes to A.J. Green. On third down, Cameron Wake breached Cincinnati’s offensive line and sent Dalton crashing down for a safety. Upheld by replay officials, the safety propelled the Dolphins to victory, snapping a four-game losing skid.
Miami (4-4-0 ATS) covered the spread, something it has only done during wins this season, while Cincinnati (5-3-1 ATS) failed to cover for the first time in three weeks.
The Bengals (5-4-0) saw the total go under for the first time in a month, while Miami (5-3-0) – who had gotten used to the total going over – saw the total go under for the second straight week.
Cincinnati (6-3, 2-3 road) will travel to Baltimore next Sunday for a big intra-division clash. Miami (4-4, 2-2 road) will stay in Florida, facing a road game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Baltimore Ravens at Cleveland Browns
First Energy Stadium, Cleveland, OH, 4:25 p.m. ET (matchup)
Jason Campbell takes charge of the Browns’ offense.
The team formerly known as the Cleveland Browns meets the team currently known as the Cleveland Browns (3-5, 2-2 home) Sunday, with AFC North positioning on the line.
Cleveland can leapfrog the Baltimore Ravens (3-4, 1-3 road) in the division standings with a win at First Energy Stadium, but history tells us a win will be hard to come by. The Ravens have taken each of the last 11 meetings between the two sides, 17 of the last 21, and 22 of 29 since the Browns were reintroduced to the NFL in 1999.
Week 2 saw a drawn-out affair between the two sides in Baltimore, with the Ravens overcoming a 6-0 halftime deficit to win 14-6. John Harbaugh’s team dropped two straight and three of heading into last week’s bye. The Ravens need to win if they’re to having any chance of catching the Bengals at the top of the division or snatch a wild card berth.
The Browns also need a win. Rob Chudzinski’s side has lost its last three, having won three in a row prior to that. The Browns are also in with a shot at postseason play in theory, but it’s going to take a lot of winning. With four games left against division opponents (including Sunday’s showdown with the Ravens) there’s still time to make a move, although the team’s continued struggles at quarterback – Jason Campbell looks set to start again on Sunday – could prove debilitating once again.
Get Baltimore Ravens vs. Cleveland Browns odds and trends now.
Baltimore opened as the favorite on the moneyline, a result no doubt of the team’s 11-game winning streak against the Browns.
The spread opened at 2.5 but currently sits anywhere between 1 and 3 depending where you bet. Neither Baltimore (3-5-0 ATS) or Cleveland (4-4-0 ATS) has been particularly consistent against the spread this season. However, Baltimore is 8-3-0 ATS in its last 11 games against the Browns, and 5-0-0 ATS during the last five games played in Cleveland.
The over/under opened at 40 and has climbed to 41.5 with most sportsbooks. Both the Browns (3-4-0) and Ravens (2-5-0) have favored the under this season. The total has gone under in the last five meetings between the sides and four of five games played in Cleveland.
Pittsburgh Steelers at New England Patriots
Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, MA, 4:25 p.m. ET (matchup)
Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers need a win badly.
While some of the luster may have been lifted from what should have been a marquee AFC matchup, any showdown between the Pittsburgh Steelers (2-5, 1-3 road) and New England Patriots (6-2, 4-0 home) has the potential to provide fireworks.
After stringing together a pair of wins to put the halters on a 0-4 start, the Steelers came undone last weekend against the Oakland Raiders. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger had his worst performance of the year as the Steelers fell 21-18. A trip to Foxborough might not be appealing after that West Coast swing.
Still, the Steelers are far from out of the AFC North picture and could move ahead of the Ravens with a win on Sunday.
This season, the Patriots have been far from the offensive juggernaut we’ve come to expect, but by hook and by crook the team has scraped by to record six wins. That being said, Tom Brady and Co. has shared the spoilers in their last four games, recording losses to Cincinnati and the New York Jets. Sunday’s game against the Steelers comes with one big advantage though; home field. The Patriots are undefeated at home this season and have dropped just three games at home since the start of the 2009 campaign.
The Steelers were victorious in their last visit to Gillette Stadium (Nov. 2008), but that win came during a season in which Brady missed 15 of 16 games through injury, including the showdown with the Steelers.
Pittsburgh also defeated New England the last time the two teams met (Oct. 2011) and has taken two of the last three. The Steelers own a 15-11 all-time record against the Patriots, including a 4-3 record in Foxborough.
Get Pittsburgh Steelers vs. New England Patriots odds and trends now.
New England opened as a 6.5-point favorite and the spread remains in that general vicinity, give or take a half-point here or there.
Pittsburgh (2-5-0 ATS) has struggled against the spread this season, only covering in games the team wins. New England (4-4-0 ATS) has been fairly inconsistent against the spread, although Bill Belichick’s men have covered in four of the last six. The Patriots are 8-3-0 ATS in their last 11 meetings with the Steelers.
The over/under opened at 42.5 but has risen as high as 44 as we approach kickoff. Both Pittsburgh (2-5-0) and New England (3-5-0) have favored the under this season as their respective offenses have spluttered. However, the total has gone over in seven of the last nine meetings between the sides.
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