Cincinnati Bengals Big Favorites Over Kansas City Chiefs

NFL News - December 21st, 2009 - Written by John

Timing is everything.

Just ask the Cincinnati Bengals, who were asked to pull it together and battle the white-hot San Diego Chargers last week after losing teammate Chris Henry in a fatal accident. To their credit, they nearly pulled off the upset and snapped San Diego's eight-game win streak, but fell short on a late field goal by Nate Kaeding.

Surely, a match-up against the Kansas City Chiefs would have benefited Cincinnati last week, but one this Sunday in the team's final home game of the season will have to do.

The Bengals are 13 1/2-point favorites in the 2009 NFL Week 16 Betting Odds, according to BetUS, with a 40-point total.

The loss to the Chargers set the Bengals back a bit in playoff positioning by dropping them into a tie with the also 9-5 New England Patriots for the third seed. It also put their entire postseason prospects into jeopardy because the second place team in their division, Baltimore, has won two-in-a-row and is only a game out with two left to play.

But Cincinnati can close it out with a win this week, which would be it's second-straight over the Chiefs.

It's tied for the third-largest margin of the day, largely because of Kansas City's inability to score against good teams. They are 1-8 against teams in or contending for a spot in the playoffs, and are tied with the Cleveland Browns for worst record in the AFC.

They were bullied by those Browns last week in a record day, which Josh Cribbs set an NFL record for return touchdowns and James Harrison rushed for a franchise-record 286 yards and three scores. Defense has been a glaring issue all year despite using their last-three first-round draft picks on defenders, and acquiring big names like Mike Vrabel and Mike Brown via free agency.

Although the offense has struggled as well, it got a pass in that game because Matt Cassel managed to throw for 331 yards and two touchdowns, and Jamaal Charles sparked again with 156 yards on the ground.

Cassel has 2,537 yards on the year, and Charles leads the team with 759 yards. The offense should get a minor boost this week, also, when receiver Dwayne Bowe returns from a suspension levied for violating the league's substance abuse policy.

The Bengals are led by Carson Palmer, who fired back at criticism with a 314-yard day last week with two touchdowns. Chad Ochocinco, who leads the team with 78 receiving yards, had one of those scores and has eight on the year.