New England Patriots vs Cincinnati Bengals

Patriots vs Bengals

Cincinnati Bengals vs New England Patriots

Another great matchup between AFC staples like the Cincinnati Bengals and New England Patriots may not be a matchup you see very often but it’s an awesome one nonetheless. In just over 25 games between these squads dating back to the first game between the Bengals and Boston Patriots of 1968, it’s a matchup featuring classic, hardnosed, AFC football and stars like Boomer Esiason, Chad Johnson, and Tom Brady. You could also hit the jackpot depending on the odds for this one so keep on reading for great insight into this matchup that could help make your wallet a bit fatter.

The Matchup

Oddly, although both teams play in the AFC and this series is more than 50 years old, the Bengals and Patriots have never played each other in the postseason. There were times when Cincinnati had strong teams in the early 2000s with quarterback Carson Palmer and wide receiver Chad Johnson leading a high-powered offense but they would never meet Tom Brady and Bill Belichick’s Patriots in the playoffs. Still, starting with 1984, the earliest game that recorded the spreads, the Bengals have 6-13 against the Patriots over 19 games, including a 1-9 record in New England. Yikes!

A few games do stand out in this series, mainly during the 2000s, with one such matchup a thrilling 35-28 Patriots win in Foxborough on a cold winter day in December of 2004. What made it so great were the stars, including Brady, Palmer, Johnson, and also New England running back Corey Dillon who had once been Cincinnati’s star RB. Both Brady and Palmer would throw for a pair of TDs, however, Palmer’s pick-six would be the deciding factor in the game as the Bengals would lose by seven points. When they met again in 2006, the results were a bit different albeit to the Patriots side again as they would come into Cincinnati and kick their butts 38-13 behind two TDs from Brady and three more on the ground by their running backs.

Odds and Ends

Starting with 1984, one underlying trend is that the games have not been consistently close at all, with the exception being one stretch of five games from 1993 to 2004 in which the winner only won by an average margin of 4.8 points a contest. In another five-game stretch from 1984 until 1990 the average margin of victory was 16.2 points a game and it’s gotten worse in recent times with the winner winning by an average of 18.6 points a contest in seven games from 2006 to 2019.

The scores have varied but it’s been a tale of two totals since 1984 with the first eight games having a combined total of 37.5 points scored but then the series begins resulting in higher scores with the next four games from 1994 to 2004 yielding 47.8 points a contest. It would increase even further in seven games between 2006 and 2019 as the teams would average 48.3 points a game.

Why You Should Bet on This Game

Although the Patriots have more or less dominated the series since 1984, that isn’t the case with the spreads as it’s the Bengals with a winning record against the spread at 11-8 over 19 games from 1984 until 2019. On that note, this record is incredibly deceiving as a huge chunk of it stems from an eight-game stretch from 1990 to 2004 in which the Bengals went 8-0 against the spread. From 2006 to 2019 it was a far different story as it would be the Patriots that would turn the tables, going 6-1 versus the spread in seven games, including 3-0 in New England. As for the totals, steer clear of the under as the last time the under hit in consecutive games was three times in a row from 1991 to 1993 whereas the over has hit in seven out of nine games from 2001 to 2019.

Keep all the numbers above in mind when you put your money on this game and smile your butt off when you win.