Detroit stayed in the playoff race with a 20-10 victory over Chicago last Saturday. Cincinnati was blown out 34-7 by Minnesota last Sunday and is in free fall mode.
The Lions rank last in the league in rushing but gained 91 yards on 20 carries last week, heady stuff for this group. The RB Ameer Abdullah Era appears to be over as RBs Tion Green and Theo Riddick are getting most of the snaps. The Bengals run defense has been poor in 2017 (132 ypg allowed) so Detroit might actually have some success on the ground this week. QB Matthew Stafford is the offense’s leader and has several targets to throw to. WR Marvin Jones has had a strong second half of the year and would love to stick it to his former team. WR Golden Tate leads the team in receptions while Riddick is one of the more skilled receiving backs in the league. With all of the injuries at LB for Cincinnati, look for Riddick to be featured as a pass catcher this week. Stafford has been sacked 39 times and the o-line will have to account for the disruptive DT Geno Atkins (7 sacks). He’s a likely Pro Bowl selection again despite his team’s struggles.
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The Bengals have scored a mere 7 points in each of the last 2 games and 20 points or less in 6 of their last 7 games. There just hasn’t been any cohesion on offense and they average only 277 total yards per game. QB Andy Dalton is slated to start but backup QB A.J. McCarron may see some time in the last 2 weeks as he may be Cincy’s QB of the future. Dalton will look for WR A.J. Green a lot this week, too much probably as has been the case all year. Green is an explosive player but Dalton forces the action too often. WR Brandon LaFell is a decent No. 2 but not somebody you have to game plan for. Dalton likes throwing to his RBs (rookie Joe Mixon and Giovani Bernard) and both players have 27 receptions on the year. The Lions have allowed 18 TD passes on the year but have also picked off 13 attempts, a very good ratio. Mixon has missed time with a concussion but may be back this week (check status). As a team, Cincinnati averages 3.5 ypc and 79.4 ypg as the o-line just hasn’t developed this year as the team had hoped.
Public Money
In this Week 16 NFL matchup between Detroit and Cincinnati have the public heavily playing the Lions to cover the 4.5 point spread on the road with over 70%. The over/under bettors are thinking this game is going over the posted total line of 43.5 with over 60% on board.
