Thursday Night Football: Bengals Host the Ravens

Bengals and Ravens in Early AFC North Showdown

The Baltimore Ravens and the Cincinnati Bengals meet at Paul Brown Stadium on Thursday night. This early season AFC North Showdown could have playoff implications. It was the Bengals who ended the Ravens chances at a playoff birth in 2017.

Oddsmakers opened the Ravens as -3-point favorites versus the Bengals, while the game's total opened at 43. The line is now Baltimore -1 and the total is 44.

TV: 8:20 p.m. ET, NBC and NFL Network

Coach John Harbaugh did his best to downplay the notion of revenge. Harbaugh maintains that his focus will be on defeating a fierce division opponent. More-so than facing the club that ended the Ravens' playoff aspirations in 2017 with a last-minute touchdown in the season finale.

"You always want to redeem yourself as best as you can, certainly, but it's not going to factor into who wins the game. It's not going to matter in the outcome," Harbaugh said of a perceived revenge factor. "You still have to play better than your opponent on that day, and that's really what we have to focus on. You could easily get all wrapped up in that and get distracted from what matters, which is going out there Thursday night and playing well."

Bengals Started the Season Well

Andy Dalton overcame an early interception on Sunday. He went on to complete 21 of 28 passes for 243 yards with two touchdowns. This led Baltimore to a 34-23 season-opening victory over Indianapolis.

Cincinnati isn't worried about expanding the workload of Joe Mixon. He had 22 carries and collected 149 yards from scrimmage (95 rushing, 54 receiving) on Sunday.

Mixon's performance drew rave reviews from teammate A.J. Green. He said that the second-year running back belongs in the same class as Los Angeles Rams star Todd Gurley and Pittsburgh Steelers stud Le'Veon Bell.

Green had six receptions for 92 yards and a touchdown against the Colts on Sunday. He was limited to just seven catches for 91 yards total in a pair of games versus the Ravens last season.

Preston Brown is optimistic he'll play on Thursday despite sustaining an ankle injury in the season opener.

Ravens Started the Season off Like They Wanted

Baltimore played well in its season opener on Sunday. New Ravens receivers Michael Crabtree, John Brown and Willie Snead each caught a touchdown pass from Joe Flacco. It led to a convincing 47-3 romp over Buffalo.

Alex Collins has been plagued by fumbles throughout his brief NFL career. Harbaugh made it a point to bench the running back after he put the ball on the ground in the second quarter of the opener.

Collins joined fellow running backs Javorius "Buck" Allen and Kenneth Dixon by finding the end zone. Backup quarterback Lamar Jackson added 39 yards on the ground against the Bills. Dixon's availability for Thursday's contest is in question as he nurses a knee injury.

Baltimore's defense made a statement in the opener. They permitted the fewest points and yards (153) in the league while recording six sacks and two turnovers.

PREDICTION: Ravens 27, Bengals 17

Recent Form

Name	Record	ATS	Offense	Defense	Diff	ATS Home	ATS Away	OU Record	OU Home	OU Away
Baltimore	1-0	1-0	47.00	3.00	44	1-0	0-0	1-0	1-0	0-0
Cincinnati	1-0	1-0	34.00	23.00	11	0-0	1-0	1-0	0-0	1-0

Power Stats

Yards Per Point

Name	Offense	Defense	Differential
BAL	7.85	51	-43.15
CIN	9.71	16.52	-6.82

Yards Per Pass

Name	Offense	Defense	Differential
BAL	9.69	6.36	3.33
CIN	10.90	7.82	3.08

Yards Per Rush

Name	Offense	Defense	Differential
BAL	3.44	3.77	-0.33
CIN	5.05	3.41	1.64

Team Records

Baltimore Ravens

Name	Record	Home	Away	ATS	ATS Home	ATS Away	Offense	Defense	Diff
Overall	1-0	1-0	0-0	1-0	1-0	0-0	47.00	3.00	44.00
vs Conf	1-0	1-0	0-0	1-0	1-0	0-0	47.00	3.00	44.00
vs Div	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0.00	0.00	0.00
Last 3	1-0	1-0	0-0	1-0	1-0	0-0	47.00	3.00	44.00

Cincinnati Bengals

Name	Record	Home	Away	ATS	ATS Home	ATS Away	Offense	Defense	Diff
Overall	1-0	0-0	1-0	1-0	0-0	1-0	34.00	23.00	11.00
vs Conf	1-0	0-0	1-0	1-0	0-0	1-0	34.00	23.00	11.00
vs Div	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0.00	0.00	0.00
Last 3	1-0	0-0	1-0	1-0	0-0	1-0	34.00	23.00	11.00

Supergrid

Title	Stat	Rank	Stat	Rank
Away Team Overall Scoring vs Home Team Overall Defense	47.00	2	23.00	13
Awy Team Road Passing vs Home Team Home Passing Defense
Away Team Road Rushing vs Home Team Home Rushing Defense
Home Team Overall Scoring vs Away Team Overall Defense	34.00	5	3.00	1
Hme Team Home Passing vs Away Team Road Passing Defense
Home Team Home Rushing vs Away Team Road Rushing Defense

Head To Head Summary

Name	Record	ATS	OU	Score	Rush	YPR	PA	CP	PY	TY	TO +/-
Baltimore	3-7	4-6	4-5-1	19.30	86.40	3.56	43.80	58.45	222.60	309.00	1.80
Cincinnati	7-3	6-4	4-5-1	22.50	109.20	3.78	36.30	58.13	242.00	351.20	1.90

Head To Head Detail

Date	Away	Home	Score	Line	Total	OU Result	ARY	APY	ATY	ATT	HRY	HPY	HTY	HTT	Away Team Attempts	Home Team Attempts	Away Team Completions	Home Team Completions
Dec 31, 2017	CIN	BAL	31-27	146	213	359	1	118	194	312	1
Sep 10, 2017	BAL	CIN	20-0	157	111	268	1	77	144	221	5
Jan 1, 2017	BAL	CIN	10-27	72	263	335	2	153	218	371	0
Nov 27, 2016	CIN	BAL	14-19	64	261	325	2	92	219	311	1
Jan 3, 2016	BAL	CIN	16-24	59	282	341	2	145	147	292	0
Sep 27, 2015	CIN	BAL	28-24	86	372	458	2	36	362	398	1
Oct 26, 2014	BAL	CIN	24-27	107	187	294	2	111	239	350	2
Sep 7, 2014	CIN	BAL	23-16	79	301	380	0	91	329	420	2
Dec 29, 2013	BAL	CIN	17-34	47	175	222	3	111	281	392	4
Nov 10, 2013	CIN	BAL	17-20	120	244	364	3	85	104	189	3

NFL Betting Odds & Trends

Baltimore Ravens
Balt is 4-2 ATS in its last 6 games
Baltimore is 6-2 SU in its last 8 games
The total has gone OVER in 9 of Baltimore's last 13 games
Baltimore is 4-1-1 ATS in its last 6 games on the road
Baltimore is 4-10 SU in its last 14 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Baltimore's last 7 games on the road
Baltimore is 3-6 ATS in its last 9 games when playing Cincinnati
Bal is 2-7 SU in its last 9 games when playing Cincinnati
Baltimore is 4-9 ATS in its last 13 games when playing on the road against Cincinnati
Balt is 1-5 SU in its last 6 games when playing on the road against Cincinnati

Cincinnati Bengals
Cinc is 7-2 ATS in its last 9 games
Cincinnati is 4-2 ATS in its last 6 games at home
Cinc is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games at home
Cincinnati is 6-3 ATS in its last 9 games when playing Baltimore
Cinc is 7-2 SU in its last 9 games when playing Baltimore
Cincinnati is 9-4 ATS in its last 13 games when playing at home against Baltimore
Cincis 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing at home against Baltimore

Team Last 5 Games

Baltimore Ravens

Date	Opponent	score	Result	line	ATS Result	offensive rush yards	offensive passing yards	offensive total yards	defensive rush yards	defensive passing yards	defensive total yards	turnovers	Location
Sep 9, 2018	BUF	47-3	W	-7.5/38.5	W/O	117	252	369	83	70	153	-1	H
Dc 31, 2017	CIN	27-31	L	-8/39.5	L/O	118	194	312	146	213	359	0	H
Dec 23, 2017	IND	23-16	W	-13.5/40.5	L/U	103	220	323	93	203	296	0	H
Dc 17, 2017	CLE	27-10	W	-6.5/42	W/U	97	279	376	130	136	266	-4	A
Dec 10, 2017	PIT	38-39	L	6/43	W/O	152	261	413	59	486	545	1	A

Cincinnati Bengals

Date	Opponent	score	Result	line	ATS Result	offensive rush yards	offensive passing yards	offensive total yards	defensive rush yards	defensive passing yards	defensive total yards	turnovers	Location
Sep 9, 2018	IND	34-23	W	-1/47.5	W/O	101	229	330	75	305	380	0	A
Dc 31, 2017	BAL	31-27	W	8/39.5	W/O	146	213	359	118	194	312	0	A
Dec 24, 2017	DET	26-17	W	3/43	W/P	142	222	364	87	189	276	0	H
Dc 17, 2017	MIN	7-34	L	12.5/42	L/U	46	115	161	124	222	346	1	A
Dec 10, 2017	CHI	7-33	L	-6/40	L/P	70	164	234	232	250	482	2	H

Next up:
Baltimore home to Denver Sunday, September 23
Cincinnati at Carolina Sunday, September 23

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