Will the Cincinnati Bengals make the point spread against the Dallas Cowboys in week 14?

Checking the line on this game late on Tuesday evening at both William Hill and Bet Online, two of our recommended sportsbooks here at Football Betting World, I see both books have the Bengals winning the game by 3 points.

On one hand it might be overly conservative and yet that might also be an indication that the game could go either way on as little as a field goal. I will be honest as I am researching this game I realize I haven’t spoken much about the Bengals this year and I haven’t had the opportunity to review any of their games this season.

Yet, the Bengals with a 7 win and 5 loss record, have in recent weeks slid into a tied for second place spot in the AFC North and are well in the hunt for a playoff spot. If they win against the Cowboys, and the Steelers lose against the Chargers on Sunday they would have the second place edge in the division. This would also move them into the 6th seed position in the wild card projections.

For a wildcard spot to be available to Dallas, they need to win Sunday, and they need a loss by the Seahawks and the Giants. That would allow the Cowboys either the 5th and 6th seed spots in the NFC Wild Card round.

The difference on 5th or 6th seed spot is based upon whether the Redskins also win on Sunday. I have already written an article here on whether the Redskins will win the game against the Baltimore Ravens in week 14 on Sunday. Read the article to see why I think Washington will come out on top of that game.

So looking at it from that point of view, there is plenty of incentive for both of them to win, since they both really do have a lot riding on this week’s games.

Obviously a number of other factors will affect the playoffs hopes of the Bengals, Cowboys or many other teams since a number of different scenarios with this week’s games will affect their hopes moving forward as we near the end of the season.

Are the Cincinnati Bengals a sure thing to win against the Dallas Cowboys?

Well I don’t think it would be right to call it a sure thing. And if you are betting on the game, it is never smart to let yourself believe that any bet is a sure thing when you are gambling.

Now what we will do is take a closer look at whether I think that betting on the Cincinnati Bengals is a safe bet, and whether you should take the points and how confident you can be they will make the point spread.

Dallas quarterback Tony Romo has been putting up some impressive numbers but a few of his receivers have been beat up a bit. Although Miles Austin, coming off a hip injury and Kevin Ogletree, returning from a recent concussion saw some play this past week against Philadelphia neither one saw the football much.

That is not the case for Jason Witten, Dez Bryant, Felix Jones as well as a few others. With Romo throwing 67% completions Witten is over 750 yards and Bryant has 978 yards and 8 touchdowns. If the line can give Romo a enough protection and he doesn’t have a bad day throwing picks and getting intercepted then the Cowboys can be a scoring threat to the Bengals.

The two defenses are actually ranked pretty closely. With Dallas defense rated 11th overall and Cincinnati rated 8th, the Bengals are rated 11th against the pass or the run so they are fully prepared. The biggest threat to the Cowboys quarterback is that Cincinnati is ranked number 1 in sacks.

Guys like defensive tackle Geno Atkins, as well as defensive ends Michael Johnson and Carlos Dunlap will be in his face many times throughout the game doing everything they can to keep him off balance. In the end this may prove too much for Romo. In fact I would be really surprised if he didn’t throw at least one interception in Sunday’s game.

The key is how well the Bengal offense will be able to take advantage of their defense getting Romo off the field. Andy Dalton the quarterback for Cincinnati is completing just over 63% of his throws and his favorite receiver A.J. Green is over 1100 yards with 10 touchdowns. I think Dalton will be looking for him as well as tight end Jermaine Gresham a number of times throughout the game. Andrew Hawkins recovering from an ankle injury played last week against San Diego and caught 5 for 47 yards so he could be a factor also.

And just to keep the Cowboys defense guessing a little, I figure they will hand the ball to BenJarvus Green-Ellis. He has 885 yards and is averaging 3.9 yards per carry with 5 touchdowns. With a small bit of a multi pronged attack from the Bengal offense both in the air and a little on the ground, as well as what I think to be a superior defense against a quarterback like Romo, Cincinnati will the game with the Cowboys on Sunday.

With the point spread currently sitting with the Bengals as 3 point favorites I think betting on the Bengals is a good bet. I would probably go 4 points, but not more than that. If Tony Romo would actually have a good game he could conceivably go over 300 yards and make the Bengals job much more difficult.

So if the spread is no more than 4 points take the Bengals to win.

Like I mentioned above, two of our recommended sports books are Bet Online as well as William Hill. Bet Online is the best choice for sports betting for the US Players and William Hill is one of the top Sportsbooks and Casinos in the UK.