Cincinnati Bengals at Arizona Cardinals – Odds and Predictions

Cincinnati Bengals (1-3 SU, 0-3-1 ATS) vs. Arizona Cardinals (1-3 SU, 3-1 ATS)

Week 5 NFL

Date/Time: Sunday, October 8, 2023 at 4:05PM EDT

Where: State Farm Stadium, Glendale, Arizona

TV: Fox

Point Spread: CIN -3/ARI +3 (Make Arizona +22 with a 19 point teaser found at Wagerweb!)

Money Line: Cinci -165, Zona +140

Over/Under Total: 45

The Cincinnati Bengals travel to State Farm Stadium for a Sunday showdown with the Arizona Cardinals. Neither team really had a great time of it last week, with the Bengals sinking to 1-3 after another bad game from Joe Burrow, losing to the Titans in a 27-3 stinker. It’s still early and they’ve rebounded from adversity before, but they will be looking for better starting now. It’s not an impossible spot with the 1-3 Cardinals, but with a 3-1 mark against the spread, the Cardinals haven’t been easy to pick on this season so far. They did hit a low note on Sunday, falling to the 49ers, 35-16. But with a win over Dallas and razor-thin losses to the Giants and Commanders, they’ve been a little better than advertised. Who can get it done this week in Glendale?

Believe Your Eyes or Reserve Judgment?

A pair of blowout losses through four games have the Bengals looking ragged entering week five. Again, we’ve seen them start slowly and suddenly snap into gear before, but it’s getting ugly in spots. To narrowly beat the Rams and have a chance to even their mark at 2-2 and get walloped by the Titans is a bad development. Tennessee has shown a poor secondary and for Burrow with the receiving talent he has at his avail with Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins (questionable), and Tyler Boyd to manage 165 yards through the air and no offensive TDs is alarming to say the least. Even with their 2-3 start last season that ended up being a year where they nearly made the Super Bowl, you weren’t seeing performances like this.

While the results and Burrow maybe having a lingering calf injury that’s legitimately compromising his play are real concerns, maybe a wait-and-see approach is better in this situation. The last two seasons were big ones for the Bengals, each of which got off to slow starts where right around this time in the season, they did an about-face and left those doubting them tearing up their betting tickets. We don’t want to get caught in that kind of trap where we lock in early-season observations on the Bengals. Slow starts to the season appear to be their tendency. But no, it’s still not crazy to think something is amiss.

Good Spot for Cincy?

On one hand, this is a bit of an out-of-the-way locale for a lot of Bengals players who will be seeing State Farm Stadium for the first time. And we see a Cardinals team covering three of four spreads, considerably more-feisty than what was advertised in the preseason. Joshua Dobbs has been adequate as the starting QB in Kyler Murray’s absence, completing over 70% of his throws and having not yet thrown a pick. James Conner isn’t a bad guy to have in the backfield, while Dobbs is also useful with his legs. And while the ball-catching corps lacks a real star, Marquise Brown, Rondale Moore, Michael Wilson, and Zach Ertz make up a decent cast of weapons. And a defense that was supposed to be abysmal has only given up over 20 points once this season.

There are likely going to be many teams this year that look bad after playing the Niners, but maybe we are starting to see some of the mojo wear off for the Cardinals. A lot of what was said about both sides of the ball on the Cardinals’ team were in evidence on Sunday, with Christian McCaffrey running roughshod over an Arizona “D” and a lack of big-play ability on the Cardinals’ offense really being apparent. It’s just fair to wonder how long Arizona can hang in there with a no-frills offense and a defense that needs some stars to line up in order to appear sufficient.

Is the Price Right?

Cincinnati at -3 likely a bet that if it had been offered in the preseason would have gotten its fair share of play. You have a now-established conference contender in the Bengals laying only a field goal against a team that on paper, doesn’t come all that close to stacking up with Cincinnati. But when the celebrated team opens the season looking like this and the supposed doormat is hanging in there, it puts a new light on it. It’s just a question of whether we go with what we’ve been seeing where Cincinnati is underperforming while the Cardinals are playing over their heads or if we make the accommodation that things will return to the mean at some point here soon. But in the event that you were looking to buy back into the Bengals this week on the heels of one of the ugliest showings of the Burrow era, you could say you’re not getting a bad break from a value standpoint.

Lay the Short Number on the Road Favorite

This has a trappy feel to it, with those who were inclined to take the Bengals this week likely to find the -3 quote to be a tantalizing one. The Cardinals are definitely live in this spot and there’s no guarantee that a Bengals surge is forthcoming. And if we see more of the same, it wouldn’t be that shocking. I just sense that something is about to shake loose for the Bengals and if it does, this is a manageable spot with some potential margin for error. I’ll take the Bengals in this one.

Loot’s Prediction to Cover the Point Spread: I’m betting on the Cincinnati Bengals minus 3 points. Bet your Week 5 NFL picks for FREE by scoring a 100% real cash bonus on your first deposit of $50 to $300 when you enter bonus promo code PREDICTEM at BetUS Sportsbook!