When the Raiders travel to face the Bengals to open the NFL wild card playoffs in a No. 3 vs. No. 6 game on Saturday afternoon (4:30 p.m. winning streak to advance to the divisional round. The Bengals were on a three-game winning streak until they played off the bench against the Browns.
Las Vegas couldn’t handle Cincinnati’s running game in the first meeting in November. Since then, the Bengals have released QB Joe Burrow at quarterback. His counterpart Derek Carr has also shined and grinded a lot during an efficient season.
The Raiders will try to pull off an upset under interim coach Rich Bisaccia. The Bengals are finally in the playoffs under coach Zac Taylor and they want to stay there for a while.
Here you will find everything you need to know about betting on Raiders vs. Bengals in the 2022 NFL playoffs, including up-to-date odds, trends and our expert’s prediction for the wild-card game.
Raiders odds vs. Bengals for the NFL playoff game
- Spread: Bengals by 5.5
- Below: 49
- money: Raiders +205, Bengals -250
The line started with six points for the Bengals and is leaning toward the Raiders at the end of the week. The Raiders are operating on a short week after playing in overtime on Sunday night, while the Bengals were able to rest Joe Burrow and other regulars in Week 18.
(bet odds per FanDuel bookmaker)
Raiders vs. Bengals all-time series
The Raiders lead the series 21-12, but the Bengals have won four of the last five meeting since 2012, including this season’s 32-13 in Week 11 in Las Vegas. The Raiders last won 17-10 in 2019. When the Bengals last won a playoff game 21 years ago, they also lost to the Raiders 20-10 in the divisional playoffs.
Three Trends to Know
—A solid 55 percent of margin bettors are siding with the Raiders to keep the game close and not near the number close to the touchdown.
—61% of over/under bettors believe the relatively high number should be in the 50s given the potential of both offenses.
—The Raiders are 4-6 against the spread and 5-5 overall in their last 10 games. The total has been topped in just four of those games, including Week 18 against the Chargers. The Bengals are 6-4 ATS and 5-5 SU in their last 10 games totaling more than six times as well.
three things to see
The Bengals saw their wide receivers contained against Casey Hayward Jr. and the Raiders secondary in Game 1, but they also won with Joe Mixon dominating the running game and didn’t need to throw much with their defense. Between Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd, Burrow will always find a good matchup to exploit downfield.
Carr has lost his tight end in several games and got him back just in time for Week 18. Renfrow has been super-reliable helping with wide receiver problems elsewhere. They are hard covers for the Bengals on the inside. Waller and Renfrow must go out for Las Vegas to win.
Cincinnati was No. 5, allowing on average just 102.5 rushing yards per game. Las Vegas came in at No. 19, allowing an average of 114.3 rushing yards per game. Expect Joe Mixon to be more successful than Josh Jacobs again
Statistics that matter
That was Burrow’s mark for the 2021 regular season, the best in the NFL. The Raiders limit big-passing plays on defense overall, allowing only 6.6 yards per attempt. The Raiders, however, gave up a ton of cross-country catches to the Chargers and Justin Herbert in the Finals and Burrow has been on fire throwing deep for massive yards lately.
Raiders vs Bengals Prediction
The Raiders had limited defensive responses to Burrow and Mixon in Game 1 and didn’t show enough offense with Carr and Jacobs. There’s no reason to think the rematch will be any different, even though the Raiders are red hot. The Bengals also upped their late game and arrived rested and ready to end a long postseason win drought at home. Burrow makes the big passing plays early, while Mixon plays closer to put the game out of reach in the second half.