NFL Picks 10/3 – Cincinnati Bengals @ New York Giants

NFL Picks 10/3 – Cincinnati Bengals @ New York Giants

by Thomas Quaynor for Wannamakeabet.com

The Cincinnati Bengals (1-4) visit the New York Giants (2-3) on NBC’s Sunday Night Football. The teams are facing each other for the first time since the 2020 season when visiting New York edged Cincinnati 19-17. New York has won two of the last three against Cincinnati dating back to the 2008 season. Cincinnati has never won a road game against the New York Giants in franchise history. The Bengals are 0-4 all-time against the Giants in East Rutherford. All four of those matchups were decided by seven points or less. Cincinnati is a 3.5-point favorite and the total is 47.

Cincinnati is coming off a tough 41-38 overtime loss at home to Baltimore last week. Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson and Cincinnati quarterback Joe Burrow combined for nine touchdown passes in the back-and-forth shootout. Burrow finished the game completing 30 of 39 passes for 392 yards with five touchdowns and an interception. Superstar wideout Ja’Marr Chase also had a huge game hauling in 10 catches for 193 yards and two touchdowns. Tee Higgins caught nine passes for 83 yards and two touchdowns. Cincinnati’s four losses this year have all been by five points or less.

The short-handed Giants stunned the favored Seattle Seahawks 29-20 on the road last week. The Giants won the game without the services of star rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers and starting running back David Montgomery. Rookie fifth-round pick Tyrone Tracy Jr. rushed for 129 yards on 18 carries with a touchdown filling in for Montgomery. He only had 29 yards on 12 carries coming into the game. Daniel Jones completed 23 of 34 passes for 257 yards and two touchdowns. He added 11 carries for 38 rushing yards. Darius Slayton caught 8 passes for 122 yards and a touchdown.

GAME STORYLINES: CINCINNATI

For almost 50 years, the Cincinnati Bengals were considered one of the worst franchises in all of sports due to years of losing and inept personnel decisions. But everything changed when the Bengals landed the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft and selected highly touted LSU quarterback Joe Burrow. Burrow entered the NFL as one of the most ballyhooed college prospects in draft history after a stellar 2019 season at LSU where he amassed 5,671 passing yards with 60 touchdowns to 6 interceptions while leading LSU to a 15-0 and the 2019-20 BCS National Championship.

The 27-year-old Joe Burrow is in the midst of his fifth NFL season and he’s lived up to the lofty projections bestowed upon him prior to the draft. Burrow has 109 touchdown to 39 interceptions while completing 68.3 percent of his passes across 5 seasons. In the 2 years where Burrow has played the entire season he led the Bengals to the Super Bowl in 2021 and the AFC Championship Game in 2022. Prior to Burrow’s arrival, Cincinnati’s last playoff win was in January 1991 and their last Super Bowl appearance was the 1988 season/January 1989. 

NFL Picks 10/3 – Cincinnati Bengals @ New York Giants

Despite Cincinnati’s disappointing 1-4 record this year, Joe Burrow is off to a tremendous start statistically. Burrow has passed for 1,370 yards with an NFL-high 12 touchdowns to 2 interceptions while completing 72.2 percent of his passes through 5 games. He’s having a great bounce back season after missing the final 7 games of the 2023 season due to a torn ligament in his right wrist. 

All-Pro wideout Ja’Marr Chase continues to dominate in year four. The 24-year-old superstar was the No. 5 pick in the 2021 NFL draft and Joe Burrow’s teammate at LSU. Chase got off to a sluggish start this season — 97 receiving yards over his first 2 games — after missing all of training camp and the preseason due to a contract dispute with the Bengals. Chase regained his All-World form over the last 3 games and totaled 193 yards last week against Baltimore.

Wide Receiver Tee Higgins (18 catches for 182 yards, 2 touchdowns in 3 games this season), tight end Mike Gesicki (18 catches for 178 yards) along with running backs Chase Brown (230 rushing yards, 3 total touchdowns) and Zack Moss (211 rushing yards, 124 receiving yards, 3 total touchdowns) are also standouts in the Bengals explosive offense. Moss and Brown are an effective duo with Moss being a bruising type of runner and excellent pass catcher while Brown is the speedster.

GAME STORYLINES: NEW YORK

Giants quarterback Daniel Jones has been heavily scrutinized after being selected sixth overall in the 2019 NFL draft out of Duke University — a traditional basketball power. Jones has put together an uneven career with the Giants filled with injuries and inconsistency. While Jones has not developed into the superstar that the Giants hoped for, he produced well enough for the Giants to ink him to a 4-year, $160 million contact in May 2023. 

Daniel Jones received the huge extension after leading the Giants to the playoffs with a 9-7-1 record in 2022 and producing an excellent individual season where he threw for a career-high 3,205 passing yards, with 15 touchdowns to 5 interceptions along with 708 rushing yards and 7 rushing touchdowns across 16 games. The Giants went on to upset the Minnesota Vikings in the first round of the playoffs. It was their most wins since 2016 (11) and their first playoff win since 2011 when they won the Super Bowl.  

NFL Picks 10/3 – Cincinnati Bengals @ New York Giants

After giving Daniel Jones the massive contract extension, the 2023 season ended up being disastrous for Jones and the Giants. Jones was limited to just 6 games last season after injuring his neck injury early in the year and then tearing his ACL in November 2023. New York went from 9 wins to 6 wins last season and the questions surrounding Jones capabilities arose again. Jones has gotten off to a nice start in 2024 as he’s passed for 1,138 yards with 6 touchdowns to 3 interceptions, along with 108 rushing yards through 5 games. He’s also led the Giants to upset road wins at Seattle and Cleveland.

The Giants disappointing 6-11 season did net them the No. 6 pick in the NFL draft and they were able to select prolific LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers. Nabers led the SEC with 89 catches and 1,569 yards last season and entered the NFL with enormous expectations. He has hit the ground running as a rookie compiling 35 catches for 386 yards and 3 touchdowns through 4 games. He’s averaging 96.5 receiving yards per game. Unfortunately, Nabers suffered a concussion in the closing moments of the Giants Week 4 loss to the Cowboys on Sept. 26 and has not played since. He will not play against the Bengals on Sunday night. 

New York’s defense has been outstanding through the early part of the season. Their 22 sacks leads the NFL. The Giants sacked Geno Smith seven times in last week’s win at Seattle. They sacked Deshaun Watson eight times in their 21-15 win at Cleveland on Sept. 22. All-Pro defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II anchors the Giants defense. The 26-year-old, 6-year superstar Lawrence has 16 tackles and 6 sacks on the season. He’s one of the NFL’s best at pressuring quarterbacks and stuffing the run.

Linebackers Brian Burns (15 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 forced fumble in 5 games this season) and Kayvon Thibodeaux (12 tackles, 2 sacks in 5 games) along with cornerback Deonte Banks (21 tackles, 1 forced fumble in 5 games) are also standouts on the Giants defense. The Giants acquired the two-time Pro Bowler Burns in a trade with Carolina during the offseason. Thibodeaux and Burns are both 23 and were 1st round selections by the Giants in 2022 and 2023 respectively. The Giants defense has the potential to be elite for the foreseeable future with this young core of talented players.

THE PICK: BENGALS (-3.5)

Despite the 1-4 start, the Bengals offense has been clicking of late and I expect this to continue on Sunday night in East Rutherford. I don’t think the Giants offense is capable of putting up enough points to stay with the Bengals one, especially without star rookie Malik Nabers. Lay the Points…Bengals 28, Giants 17

NFL Picks 10/3 – Cincinnati Bengals @ New York Giants