The Jacksonville Jaguars and Cincinnati Bengals face off on Thursday in a Week 4 NFL showdown at Paul Brown Stadium. In October of 2020, the Bengals came away with the 33-25 victory.
Most knew the Jaguars might have some struggles this season, but not many expected them to be this bad. The Jaguars have lost their first three games of the season, and now they have traded away cornerback CJ Henderson to the Panthers which is a big loss for the talent of this defense. The Jaguars' defense hasn’t been great, but even worse has been the offense that hasn’t scored more than 21 points. In the last game, the Jaguars scored 19 points but seven of those came on a kick return. Trevor Lawrence on the season has thrown for 669 yards, five touchdowns, and seven interceptions. One big positive from the last game was the play of James Robinson who rushed 15 times for 88 yards and a touchdown.
On the other side of this matchup is the Cincinnati Bengals who sit with a 2-1 record with the loss coming against the Chicago Bears. In the last game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Bengals defense locked down winning 24-10. Joe Burrow is having a big year, but Ja’Marr Chase has been the biggest bright spot. In the last game Chase had four catches for 65 yards and two touchdowns. The Bengals are averaging 22.67 points per game while their defense is giving up 18 points. The Bengals had two interceptions against Big Ben and they need to try and create a couple of those in this game.
The Jaguars are 1-4 against the spread in their last five games against the AFC. The Bengals are 6-2 against the spread in their last eight home games. The under is 5-2 in the Jaguars last seven games as an underdog. The favorite is 3-0-1 against the spread in the last four meetings.
I think Lawrence has a strong NFL career, but he is going to continue his struggles in this game. The Bengals had two interceptions against Big Ben, and they will continue to create turnovers in this game. Back the Bengals to cover the spread.