First place in the AFC North standings will be on the line when the Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals meet at Paul Brown Stadium on Sunday. The Bengals beat up on the Ravens when these teams met on October 24, as Joe Burrow & Co. earned a 41-17 victory as 6.5-point road underdogs.
Will Baltimore get revenge on Cincinnati by earning a road win of its own? You’ll want to keep reading our Week 16 betting picks and predictions for Ravens vs. Bengals to see how this one might play out.
Ravens vs Bengals odds
Odds via the Covers Line, an average comprised of odds from multiple sportsbooks.
Baltimore was a 2.5-point underdog when books opened, and the Ravens are now getting 3 on almost every sportsbook. The betting public is backing Cincinnati, with a large majority of tickets coming in on the Bengals. Meanwhile, the total opened at 43.5 and has since gone up to between 44.5 and 45.5.
Use the live odds widget above to track any future line movements right up until kickoff and be sure to check out the full NFL odds before placing your bets.
Ravens vs Bengals predictions
Predictions made on 12/23/2021 at 4:20 p.m. ET.
Click on each prediction to jump to the full analysis.
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Ravens vs Bengals game info
• Location: Paul Brown Stadium, Cincinnati, OH
• Date: Sunday, December 26, 2021
• Time: 1:00 p.m. ET
• TV: CBS
Ravens at Bengals betting preview
Weather
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Key injuries
Ravens: Lamar Jackson QB (Out), Tyler Huntley QB (Out), Devin Duvernay WR (Out), Ben Powers OG (Out).
Bengals: Fred Johnson OT (Out), Trayveon Williams RB (Out), Logan Wilson LB (Out).
Find our latest NFL injury reports.
Betting trend to know
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Ravens vs Bengals picks and predictions
Our predictions are compiled from the analysis of the spread and total and are indications of where we are leaning for this game.
Our best bet is the play that we like the most for this game, which we would actually put some of our bankroll behind.
Spread analysis
The last time the Bengals and Ravens played, Joe Burrow threw for 416 yards with three touchdowns and Ja’Marr Chase had 201 receiving yards and a score of his own. It was a masterful offensive performance by Cincinnati, but it’s also one that will fuel Baltimore defensive coordinator Don Martindale's ire ahead of this one.
The Ravens might have a lot of injuries on defense, but this is a team that generally responds to bad losses. Baltimore also plays its best football at this time of the year, as John Harbaugh’s team is 11-2 against the spread in December games over the last three seasons. With first place in the division on the line, it’s highly unlikely the Ravens will come out flat in this one.
Baltimore also appears to be getting star quarterback Lamar Jackson back from an ankle injury. Jackson missed last week’s game against the Packers, but he should be able to torch this Bengals secondary in this game. Only six teams in the league are allowing more yards per game through the air than the Bengals, so Jackson should be able to make some plays with his arm. Having Mark Andrews, who was unguardable against Green Bay last week, definitely helps him there. But assuming Jackson’s ankle is actually better, he should also be able to make the Bengals pay with his legs.
Overall, look for the Ravens to return the favor in Cincinnati this weekend. Not only should they cover the spread, but it’s hard to imagine Baltimore not winning this game outright.
Prediction: Ravens +3 (-110)
Over/Under analysis
While it was the Bengals who did the heavy lifting in October, these two still combined to score 58 points. Now, the two meet in a game with a very low total, despite the fact that Baltimore is coming off back-to-back Overs. The Ravens and Browns combined to score 46 points when they played two weeks ago, and the Ravens and Packers combined to score 61 last week. Meanwhile, the Bengals and the Broncos might have scored a total of only 25 points last week, but each of Cincinnati’s previous 10 games would have gone Over this week’s total.
Since Zac Taylor became the head coach of the Bengals, the Over is 5-1 in games with Cincinnati playing as a home favorite. The Over is also 10-6 in the 16 games the Bengals have played against AFC North opponents under Taylor. Don’t expect that to change with a lot of key defensive pieces missing this one.
Prediction: Over 44.5 (-110)
Best bet
The Bengals might be playing at home, but this head-to-head series hasn’t featured much of a home-field advantage over the years. The road team is 7-2 against the spread in games between these rivals since the start of the 2017 season. The Ravens are 3-1 both straight-up and against the spread in Paul Brown Stadium in that span, and they won all three of those games by 20 or more points. Doing so again would be a nice feeling of revenge after what the Bengals did to them in Baltimore.
Also, since the start of the 2019 season, Baltimore is 8-1 ATS when playing on the road against a team with a winning record. So, despite the fact that we’ve seen some rough showings from the Ravens in recent weeks, this is exactly the type of game that gets Baltimore up and ready to go.
Pick: Ravens +3 (-110)
