A massive divisional bout is about to take place in Week 2, as the Baltimore Ravens travel to the Queen City to take on the Cincinnati Bengals. The Ravens were fortunate to come away with a win in the first week of the new season, whereas the Bengals had one of their most disappointing season openers in recent memory.

Nitrobetting is ready to take your bets into the end zone this 2023 NFL season. Let’s take a closer look at the upcoming Week 2 divisional showdown between the Baltimore Ravens and the Cincinnati Bengals.

Ravens vs. Bengals Game Information

On to Week 2. pic.twitter.com/buMKUVPu8x

— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) September 11, 2023

• When: Sunday, September 17, 2023, 1:00 PM ET
• Where: Paycor Stadium, Cincinnati, OH
• TV: CBS
• Radio: 106.5 The WOLF (Ravens) // 1010XL (Bengals)
• Live Stream: NFL Game Pass
• NFL Odds: Ravens (+3.5) // Bengals (-3.5)

Why Bet on the Baltimore Ravens?

On one hand, a resounding 39-5 victory in Week 1 over the Houston Texans is a promising sign that the Baltimore Ravens are back in full force. On the other, Lamar Jackson and the gang did just face arguably the worst team in the entire AFC, which means this is far from the real challenge at hand.

Jackson racked up just 207 all-purpose yards, with 38 of those yards earned on the ground. Baltimore’s three offensive scores came from their running back duo of Justice Hill (two rushing touchdowns) and J.K. Dobbins (one). Unfortunately, primary back Dobbins tore his Achilles during this contest and will miss the remainder of the season. Thankfully, rookie wide receiver Zay Flowers made a strong NFL debut with nine catches for 78 receiving yards.

Flowers’ addition to the passing game will somewhat offset the loss of Dobbins, and star tight end Mark Andrews should be close to returning from his quad injury as well. The Ravens’ defense was still passable, but the team as a whole was flagged a whopping 13 times for 106 penalty yards. Fixing the team’s penalty issues should be the top priority for John Harbaugh and the Baltimore coaching staff leading up to Sunday’s game in Cincy.

Why Bet on the Cincinnati Bengals?

What a terrible performance it was for the Cincinnati Bengals in their divisional season opener in Cleveland against the Browns. Cincinnati was humbled by the sound of a 24-3 beating at the hands of the Browns, who relished the wet-weather conditions on their home field.

Joe Burrow was off to another slow start to his campaign, completing just 14 of his 31 passes for 82 pathetic passing yards. Even running back Joe Mixon found the rain to his disadvantage, rushing for only 56 yards on 13 carries. The Bengals’ offense mustered up just 142 yards on offense against a formidable Cleveland defense but should be reinvigorated by their first home start of the new season this Sunday.

Cincinnati’s defense surrendered 350 yards to the Browns and came up with just two sacks. This side of the ball will have its limits after losing Pro Bowl safety Jessie Bates this offseason. At the end of the day, the Bengals’ offense just needs to wake up from its slumber to mask the defense’s flaws, so it’s up to Joe Cool to finally catch fire in front of the home crowd and prove that they’re still the promising AFC playoff contenders that they’ve been since Burrow splashed onto the NFL scene.

Ravens vs. Bengals Betting Trends

• Baltimore went 5-4 on the road last season (6-3 ATS).
• The Ravens are winless in the last four outings against teams from their division (2-2 ATS).
• The totals went under in three of the last five Baltimore road games.
• Cincinnati is currently on a six-game home win streak in the regular season (5-1 ATS).
• The Bengals are 4-1 in the last five meetings against the Ravens (3-2 ATS).
• The totals went over in four of the last five Baltimore vs. Cincinnati matchups.

Ravens vs. Bengals Expert Betting Predictions

As disheartening as the Bengals’ effort was in Week 1, they should put up a better fight in Week 2, especially in Cincy where they’ve consistently performed much better. That being said, we’re still predicting the Ravens to pull off the road upset or, at the very least, cover any spread as road dogs as we predict this showdown to go down the wire and with Baltimore handing onto a slim lead.

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