Washington Redskins (4-3 SU, 3-4 ATS) vs. Cincinnati Bengals (3-4 SU, 3-4 ATS)
NFL Week 8
October 30th 2016 /Time: 9:30 AM EST
Where: Wembley Stadium, London, England
TV: CBS
by Jason Green, Football Handicapper, Predictem.com
Point Spread: Bengals -3
Over/Under Total: 47.5
Well, cheerio old chaps, as the Redskins and Bengals head across the pond to face each other in a non-conference match up in merry old London. The Redskins are coming off a tough 20-17 loss where they gave up a very late 4th quarter TD to the Detroit Lions. Still, the Skins are at 4-3 and in the race for their 2nd straight NFC East crown. Kirk Cousins has been playing well and the Washington defense must play better in this game than in the last drive against Detroit that killed their chance at a W.
The Bengals snapped their 2-game skid with a 31-17 win over the Cleveland Browns. Yeah that game is nothing to write home about since the Browns are the lone winless team in the NFL. Cincy scored 31 points in the game, which is the amount of points they had scored combined in their previous 2 games.
These teams have not met since the 2012 season in Washington where the Bengals beat the Redskins 38-31.
Andy Dalton ranks 4th in the NFL in passing yards per game and it help that he has one of the best WRs in the game in A.J. Green Dalton passed for over 300 yards in the win over the Browns with 2 TD and 0 INT and he has not been picked off in his last 4 games. Green ranks 2nd in the league in receiving yards and after him the Bengals are pretty thin on legit targets. Washington ranks 20th in the league in pass defense and while they were not bad in the loss to Detroit they were terrible in letting Matthew Stafford and Detroit march down the field for a game-winning TD with less than a minute left.
The Bengals have had issues in the run game this season, but against the Browns they rushed for 271 yards with Jeremy hill going for 168 yards and Giovani Bernard going for 80 yards. The Redskins stuffed the run, for the most part in the loss to the Lions, but overall their run D only ranks 26th in the league.
Even in the loss and scoring 17 points Washington QB Kirk Cousins had, perhaps, his best game of the season going 30/39 for 301 yards with a TD and 0 INT. He has a lot of weapons on the outside and emerging star TE Jordan Reed should be back in this game to give him another one. Cousins has only been picked off 3 times in his last 5 games.
Chris Thomson was the leading rusher for the Skins in the Lions game (73 yards 6.1 yards per carry average) and lead back Matt Jones is banged up and Is a question mark for this game. Jones cost the redskins dearly in the last game with a fumble near the Detroit goal line. Washington has gotten back to running the ball more and if they can be successful doing that it opens up a lot of lanes for Cousins and his many options.
This season the Bengals only rank 16th in the league in pass defense and 24th in run defense. Before their win against the Browns Cincy had given up 35 points and 28 points in their previous 2 games.
The Redskins are 5-1 ATS facing a team with a losing record and 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall. The Bengals are 15-7-2 ATS in their last 24 games overall and 0-4-1 ATS facing a team with a winning record.
Dalton will have a good game, but so will Cousins and the Skins will also have a good game on the ground. That will be key, as they will not only cover the spread, but they will get the W as well.
Jasons Pick to Cover the Point Spread: Redskins +3
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