Baltimore Ravens vs Cincinnati Bengals Matchup Preview - January 8th, 2023
Tyler Huntley and the Baltimore Ravens faceoff against Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals enter the game as a huge favorite (-665) as the home team. Cincinnati is currently favored by -11.5 points while the Game Total is currently sitting on 39.0.
Cincinnati's primary advantage has been their offense, which ranks #10 in the NFL at 356 yards per game. The quality of their passing attack has led to much of their success. The Bengals 278 yards per game through the air ranks #4-best in football this year. When it comes to their defense, the Bengals check in at #2 in football when it comes to total yards allowed per game. Opposing air attacks have notched 219 yards per game against Cincinnati this year (#11 in football). Opposing ball-carriers have ranked #5 against them with 4.24 yards per ground attempt. This Bengals defense hits their peak effectiveness when it comes to defending opposing running backs, keeping them in check at just 5.16 yards per target (#3-best in the league). Cincinnati's defensive effectiveness bottoms out when it comes to defending opposing tight ends, who have caught 76.1% of their passes (#5-highest in the league).
Baltimore's biggest strength has been their rushing offense, ranking #2 in the league with 4.95 yards per carry. In terms of their defense, the Ravens have ranked #17 in the league in total yards allowed per game. Opposing offenses have passed for 261 yards per game through the air against them (#28 in football). On the ground, opposing ball-carriers have ranked #3 with 4.07 yards per carry. Positionally, perhaps their best defensive asset has been their safeties, which rank #7 in the league in locking down route-runners. Baltimore has been least effective in shutting down opposing wide receivers, giving up a 70.5% completion rate (#3-highest).
Baltimore Ravens Insights
The Cincinnati Bengals linebackers project as the best collection of LBs in the league this year in covering pass-catchers.
The Cincinnati Bengals pass defense has been quite strong when opposing WRs have gotten into space, allowing an average of 3.66 yards-after-the-catch this year: the 7th-least in the league.
Cincinnati Bengals Insights
The Sharp Model projects Joe Burrow to be much more involved in his team's running game this week (16.1% projected Carry Share) than he has been this year (6.8% in games he has played).
Joe Burrow has thrown for a lot more yards per game (294.0) this year than he did last year (266.0).
The Cincinnati Bengals have elected to go for it on 4th down a lowly 15.7% of the time since the start of last season (7th-least in football), which generally means less offensive volume, less TD potential, and lower offensive metrics across the board.
Betting Trends
The Baltimore Ravens have scored first in 7 of their last 8 away games (+6.00 Units / 60% ROI)
Tyler Boyd has hit the Receiving Yards Under in 14 of his last 20 games (+6.65 Units / 27% ROI)