The Cincinnati Bengals opened up as an 8.5-point home favorite over the Las Vegas Raiders in a Week 9 contest and the Over/Under total on this game was set at 45.5. A few pennies have come in on the Raiders and the line has ticked down to -7.5. The O/U has ticked up from 45.5 to 46.5 at BetMGM.

The last time these teams met was in the playoffs at the end of the 2021 season. The game was in Cincy and the Bengals (-5.5) posted a 26-19 win with the O/U total of 48.5 rewarding bettors that went low. Joe Burrow was slinging for the Cats and had a superb game (24/34 for 244 yards and 2 TDs), while Derek Carr (29/54 for 310 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) was the arm for the Silver & Black. NOT anymore!

And if look-aheads are part of your handicapping homework, the Bengals hit the road to fight division rival Baltimore Ravens on Thursday night, while the Raiders get a week off to figure out what went wrong this season.

Las Vegas Raiders vs Cincinnati Bengals Odds Week 9

Odds as of Oct. 29 at BetMGM

Raiders vs Bengals Pick Week 9

Bengals -7.5 (-110) at BetMGM

Still think that Joe Burrow is an elite QB but there is some slippage. Joe B. was pretty accurate in the red zone last season, hitting on 67.4% of his passes. This season, he is down at 53.7%. OUCH! However, his overall numbers this season are actually pretty solid. He has hit on 185 of 263 (70.3%) for 1,993 yards, with 15 TDs and 3 INTs.

Last week against a very good Eagles defense, he was excellent in the air, completing 26 of 37 for 234 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT. But there were two yuge problems. NO Tee Higgins, so obviously Ja'Marr Chase was his go to with 11 targets and 9 grabs. But the bigger problem was the lack of a running game. RB Chase Brown struggled badly, gaining ONLY 32 yards on 12 carries which worked out to an average of 2.7 yards per carry. That AIN'T gonna get it in the NFL.

With a 3-5 record, it's gonna take some magic just to sneak into the playoffs. Cincy has nine games left, five against some pretty tough teams. Two against the Steelers, one against the Ravens, Cowboys and Chargers, and finding six more wins will be problematic.

You look at their 2-6 record and probably think that the Raiders are just gonna play out the string. NOT true. Vegas has actually been very competitive, losing at the Rams 20-15, and at home to the Chiefs last week, 27-20. Both games were within one score of a W, but they came up short. Facing Patrick Mahomes and Matthew Stafford in back-to-back weeks should get the defense ready for Burrow.

Now we turn to LEGO-METRICS, how each team has built their season. Cincy's three wins have come against the NFL bottom feeders. A 34-23 win over the Panthers, a 17-7 W against the Giants and a 21-14 victory over the Browns. Vegas has two wins, a shocking 26-23 W over the Ravens and a 20-16 win against the Browns.

You know the Burrow story so now you need to go gardening. Gardner Minshew played a pretty sweet game against Kaycee last week, completing 24 of 30 (80%) for 209 yards with 2 TDs and 0 INTs. Minshew has two problems as well. Throwing eight INTs on the season is ugly and like Burrow, he basically has no running game.

So, how do we handle this game? The size of the wager will depend on Cincinnati WR Tee Higgins. If Tee plays, we would grab the Bengals and buy the hook down to -7 for a medium size bang. If Tee is out, then we would think about hooking up the Raiders in a two-team 6-point teaser, bumping Vegas up to +13.5.

Las Vegas Raiders vs Cincinnati Bengals Betting Trends