NFL Picks 12/28 – Cardinals @ Bengals – Is Cincy Still Breathing?

By Thomas Quaynor for Wannamakeabet.com

The Arizona Cardinals (3-12) visit the Cincinnati Bengals (5-10) on Sunday afternoon at Paycor Stadium in a matchup of teams who began the year with high expectations, but find themselves playing for pride as the 2025 regular season winds down. 

Cincinnati defeated Arizona 34-20 on the road when these teams last met in Week 5 of the 2023 season. Cincinnati’s superstar duo of quarterback Joe Burrow (317 passing yards, 3 TD’s) and wideout Ja’Marr Chase (15 catches for 192 yards, 3 TD’s) produced huge games for Cincinnati in that victory. Burrow and Chase will also be playing on Sunday against Arizona. 

Cincinnati is a 7-point favorite and the total is 53.5.

WHAT BOTH TEAMS DID IN THEIR PREVIOUS GAME

Arizona lost 26-19 at home against Atlanta in Week 16. Arizona held a 13-3 lead early in the second quarter but were outscored 23-3 through the early portion of the fourth quarter, and were never able to recover. The Cardinals have lost 7 in a row and 12 of 13 since starting the season 2-0.

Backup quarterback Jacoby Brissett finished 16 of 31 for 203 yards with a touchdown and an interception in the loss. Backup running back Michael Carter registered 11 carries for a team-high 65 yards, while backup tight end Elijah Higgins led the receiving unit with 7 catches for 91 yards. Arizona’s reliance on backups — due to injuries — is a big reason for their dismal 2025 season.

Cincinnati clobbered Miami 45-21 on the road last week. Joe Burrow notched a huge game completing 25 of 32 passes for a season-high 309 yards with 4 touchdowns and no interceptions. Running back Chase Brown was also terrific in the win, compiling 12 carries for 66 yards on the ground, 4 catches for 43 yards in the air and 3 total touchdowns. Brown scored all three of his touchdowns in the third quarter. He became the first player in NFL history to achieve this. 

GAME STORYLINES: ARIZONA

Last season, the Arizona Cardinals rebounded from back-to-back 4-13 finishes and sat at 6-4 in Week 10. The return of franchise quarterback Kyler Murray to full health was a big reason for the turnaround. The Cardinals would go on to lose 5 of their next 6 games which dropped them from playoff contention, but an 8-9 finish was a big improvement over the 2022 and 2023 seasons.

Expectations were somewhat high for the 2025 season as Arizona returned Kyler Murray and a pretty potent offense. The season got off to an auspicious start with Arizona winning their first two games against New Orleans and Carolina. Unfortunately, things unraveled expeditiously for Arizona after the 2-0 start. Starting running James Conner suffered a season-ending foot injury in Week 3 at San Francisco. Backup running back Trey Benson then suffered a season ending meniscus (knee) injury in Week 4 against Seattle. 

The injury woes continued for Arizona when starting quarterback Kyler Murray went down with a mid-foot sprain during a 22-21 Week 5 loss against the lowly Tennessee Titans at home. It was expected that Murray could return after a four-week stint on injured-reserve but his foot did not respond to treatment. Arizona declared Murray out for the season on Dec. 5. Highly-regarded, second-year wideout Marvin Harrison Jr. — the 4th overall pick in the 2024 draft out of Ohio State — has also spent various stints on the injured list due to a lingering heel injury.

The preponderance of injuries to key players on offense beginning in Week 2, along with losing 5 straight games by four points or less Arizona crippled Arizona’s season. After an upset win (27-17) at Dallas in Week 9 on Nov. 3, the lack of manpower began to really show as the Cardinals would embark on its current 7-game losing streak. Four of the losses have been by 20 points or more. 

Despite the bleak season in which Arizona could set a franchise-record for most losses in a season (14) if they lose their final 2 games, they’ve gotten good production from journeyman quarterback Jacoby Brissett (2,911 yards, 19 touchdown to 7 interceptions, 149 rushing yards, 1 rushing TD in 12 gms), star tight end Trey McBride (1,098 receiving yards, 10 receiving touchdowns in 15 gms), wide receiver Michael Wilson (818 receiving yards, 5 receiving touchdowns in 15 gms), All-Pro safety Budda Baker (team-high 111 tackles, 1 interception, 1 fumble recovery in 15 gms) and free agent signee Josh Sweat (27 tackles, team-high 11 sacks, 4 forced fumbles in 15 gms).

The 26-year-old Trey McBride has registered his second straight 1,000-yard season and is one of the top tight ends in the NFL. The 33-year-old Jacoby Brissett has played on 7 teams (twice with New England) in his 10 NFL seasons. His 19 touchdown passes are a career-high. Arizona signed defensive end Josh Sweat to a four-year, $76.4 million contract in the offseason after 7 seasons with Philadelphia where he established himself as an elite pass rusher. 

GAME STORYLINES: CINCINNATI

For much of the Cincinnati Bengals’ existence in the NFL (1968 to the present), they’ve been known as a cheap and losing franchise. Making the Super Bowl twice in the 1980’s (1981 and 1988 seasons) and experiencing brief spurts of success in the late 1980’s, the mid 2000’s and early 2010’s did not vanquish the losing stench. Everything appeared to have changed when Cincinnati landed the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft and selected prolific LSU quarterback Joe Burrow. 

Joe Burrow entered the NFL as one of the most hyped college prospects in the history of the NFL draft after throwing for an astonishing 60 touchdowns to 5 interceptions for a 15-0 LSU squad that won the 2019-20 BCS National Championship with ease. Burrow also won the 2019 Heisman Trophy in record fashion, winning 93.8% of all votes.

The addition of Joe Burrow brought copious amounts of hope and optimism for the mostly downtrodden Bengals franchise. And initially, Burrow’s performance justified the astronomical hype as he led the Cincinnati Bengals to the Super Bowl in just his second season (2021) — where they narrowly lost 23-20 to the Los Angeles Rams. The following year saw Burrow lead the Bengals to a 12-4 record and a trip to the AFC Championship Game where they narrowly lost (23-20) at Kansas City.

Unfortunately, the next 3 seasons — including 2025 — have been underwhelming for Joe Burrow and the Bengals as they will miss the playoffs for a third straight season. A wrist injury limited Burrow to 10 games in 2023 which led to a 9-8 record. Last year, a poor start to the season and a faulty defense resulted in a second straight 9-8 finish despite Burrow amassing his best statistical season (4,918 passing yards, 43 touchdowns to 9 interceptions) of his six-year career.

The 2025 season began on an ominous note for Cincinnati after Joe Burrow suffered a grade-3 turf toe injury during a Week 2 game against Jacksonville. The injury sidelined Burrow for 2.5 months. Burrow was injured on Sep. 14, and returned on Nov. 27. The Bengals were 3-8 when Burrow made his return, and many questioned why he would want to suit up for a bad team with flickering playoff hopes. Burrow’s decision to come back to a fledgling team showed his dedication to the organization.

Joe Burrow looked spectacular in his highly-anticipated return as he threw for 261 yards and 2 touchdowns in a convincing 32-14 upset win at Baltimore on Thanksgiving night (Nov. 27.) Cincinnati dropped the next 2 games — a demoralizing 39-34 loss at Buffalo where Burrow threw two fourth-quarter interceptions and a listless 24-0 loss at Baltimore — which officially eliminated them from the playoffs.

A few days after the tough loss at Buffalo, Joe Burrow made comments about football “not being fun” which set off alarms that he wanted out of Cincinnati or would follow the path of former Cincinnati quarterback Carson Palmer — who was also selected No. 1 overall by the Bengals in the 2003 NFL draft — who threatened to retire from the Bengals following the 2010 season if they didn’t trade or release him. The Bengals eventually traded Palmer to the Oakland Raiders. Palmer would go on to notch 7 more highly productive seasons after forcing his way out of Cincinnati. 

Joe Burrow appears to be in good spirits and content with Cincinnati after last week’s 45-21 shellacking of the Miami Dolphins. Ending the season with two more favorable matchups against 3-12 Arizona this week and a Cleveland Browns team who is currently 3-12 will likely put Joe Burrow in a positive state of mind as he heads into the 2026 season. On the season, Burrow has passed for 1,268 yards with 12 touchdowns to 4 interceptions while completing 63.5 percent of his passes across 6 games.

All-Pro wideout Ja’Marr Chase continues his stellar level of play in year five. The 25-year-old LSU product has registered 110 catches (2nd in the NFL) for 1,256 yards and 5 touchdowns through 14 games on the season. Chase has registered a team-record seven 100-yard games. Running back Chase Brown (846 rushing yards, 379 receiving yards, 8 total touchdowns in 15 gms) and wideout Tee Higgins (720 receiving yards, team-high 10 receiving touchdowns in 13 gms) are also having tremendous seasons for the Bengals. 

THE PICK: BENGALS (-7)

It’s been a season of misfortune for Cincinnati due to injuries and poor defense but they seem to be back on track now that Joe Burrow is back and fully locked in. Meanwhile, Arizona has lost 7 in a row, and appears to have checked out on the season in early November. Lay the Points…Bengals 38, Cardinals 20