Cincinnati blew a late lead in a 24-20 loss to Tennessee last Sunday. Denver’s losing streak reached 5 with a 41-16 shellacking by New England last week.
Bengals QB Andy Dalton continues to get better as he adjusts to OC Bill Lazor’s system. He now has a 13-8 TD/INT ratio and he’s not getting sacked as much as he was earlier in the year. The Broncos have only 20 sacks in 2017 and OLB Von Miller is the only player with more than 3 (he has 8). WR A.J. Green rebounded well from his expulsion the week before (5-115-1) and will be looking to make plays against a secondary that was carved up by QB Tom Brady last Sunday night (297 passing yards, 3 TDs). That’s 19 TD passes allowed by this secondary for the year. Cincy’s running game continues to sputter and even the insertion of rookie RB Joe Mixon isn’t helping. Denver’s run defense has been strong this season but the Bengals need to attempt 20+ runs to keep the defense honest.
The Broncos offense continues to stagnate as QB Brock Osweiler hasn’t had the hoped-for impact after he replaced TO-prone QB Trevor Siemian. He’s completed 52% of his passes in his 2 starts and has thrown 2 TD passes to 3 INTs. Cincinnati’s pass defense has held up this year and they allow fewer passing yards than even Denver does. WR Emmanuel Sanders is coming off a huge game vs. the Pats (6-137) but he and fellow wideout Demaryius Thomas are the only threats in the passing game. The running game has been decent but not good enough to overcome a dismal passing attack. The Bengals lost last week’s game because they couldn’t contain the run (36-180- 2 rushing TDs) but the Broncos have abandoned the run several times during their losing streak. Look for Cincinnati to crowd the box and force Osweiler to beat them with his arm.
Public Money Consensus
In this Week 11 of the NFL matchup between Cincinnati and Denver have the public leaning heavily to the Broncos minus the 2.5 points with over 70% on board. The over/under bettors are thinking this game will go over the posted total line of 38.5 with over 70%.
