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The final week of the NFL preseason has arrived as the Cincinnati Bengals square off with the Washington Commanders for one last exhibition game before the start of the regular season. Join us for our NFL odds series, where our Bengals-Commanders prediction and pick will be revealed.
After dropping their opening preseason game to the Packers, Cincy was able to bounce back somewhat with a tie against the Falcons in Week 2. Now entering this weekend with a 0-1-1 record, can the Bengals officially win, lose, and tie all in the same preseason?? These are some crazy times indeed.
Meanwhile, the Commanders are playing their first few games with newly anointed offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy. After five years being the OC for the best offensive team in the NFL in the Chiefs, Bieniemy was up for the challenge in trying to ignite a rather stagnant Washington offense. With a perfect 2-0 record during this preseason, can the Commanders do enough to be a perfect 3-0 before the regular season kicks off in a couple of weeks?
Here are the Bengals-Commanders Preseason NFL odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
NFL Preseason Odds: Bengals-Commanders Odds
Cincinnati Bengals: +3 (-110)
Washington Commanders: -3 (-110)
Over: 34.5 (-110)
Under: 34.5 (-110)
How to Watch Bengals vs. Commanders
TV: N/A
Stream: fuboTV, NFL+
Time: 6:00 ET/3:00 PT
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Why The Bengals Could Cover The Spread
While it is expected for there to be backups galore on the Cincinnati sideline for the preseason finale, the biggest issue that needs correcting for the Bengals if they are going to cover the spread is stringing together plenty of more stops on defense. After allowing a whopping 36 points to Green Bay on Aug. 11th, the Bengals appeared to have more holes on defense than Swiss cheese.
However, it was at least encouraging to see the conference runner-up Bengals look more stout with their defensive unit in holding Atlanta to only 13 points a week ago. With the defense trending in a positive direction, Cincinnati could be in store to play the best they've played all preseason long this Saturday.
Not to mention, but backup QB Jake Browning has also made a strong case to be the Bengals' second-string quarterback heading into Week 1 of the regular season as he has led the squad with 235 passing yards and has completed 67% of his attempted passes. The only blimp on his preseason resume has been his inability to find the end zone through the air through the two games played.
In an attempt to open things up in the passing game for Browning and the rest of the Bengals' quarterbacks, be on the lookout for Cincy to instill some sort of rhythm on the ground as well. With only an average of 74.5 rushing yards per game up to this point, Cincinnati would love to pound the rock down the throats of Washington all afternoon long.
Why The Commanders Could Cover The Spread
While the Commanders are a flawless 2-0 during this preseason, let's not jump the gun just yet on how successful Washington may actually be once the regular season is in full swing. Remember, even the infamous winless 2008 Detroit Lions managed to go undefeated during the preseason before becoming one of four teams since the merger to not win one game in a season.
All jokes aside, the Commanders will not be going winless in 2023 and there has been plenty of good to take away during their encouraging start to the preseason. First things first, Washington has to keep the pedal to the metal when it comes to their perfect balance on the offensive side of the ball. So far, so good for first-year offensive coordinator Eric Bieneimy as his play-calling has kept opposing defenses on his toes and was a big reason why the Commanders were able to snap the Ravens' 24 preseason game-winning streak last Monday. Alas, expected starting quarterback Sam Howell isn't projected to play in this one, but backups Jake Fromm and Jacoby Brissett should have no problems in leading this revamped offensive attack.
On defense, Washington is allowing 21.5 PPG through two preseason games but often looked shaky against the Ravens despite the 29-28 win. Overall, the key in covering the spread for head coach Ron Rivera's squad will be to limit the damage on early downs to set up third-and-longs to make life difficult for the Bengals offense.
Final Bengals-Commanders Prediction & Pick
In each team's final preseason tilt, side with the Commanders to cap off the perfect 3-0 preseason record en route to setting the tone for the regular season.
Final Bengals-Commanders Prediction & Pick: Commanders -3 (-110)
