Bengals vs. Broncos Point Spread: Monday Night Football

Back up quarterbacks square off on Monday Night Football as AJ McCarron leads the Cincinnati Bengals against Brock Osweiler and the Denver Broncos. Both teams sit at the top of their respective divisions and have seen their understudy signal callers win crucial late season games for them. The bigger onus lay with Osweiler, as the Broncos are hoping to stave off the Kanasas City Chiefs for the AFC West crown. The point spread is currently favoring the Broncos at -3.5.

Monday Night Football: Denver Broncos vs. Cincinnati Bengals

Point Spread: Broncos -3.5
Over/under: 40.5
Date: Monday, December 28, 8:30pm ET
Location:Sports Authority Field at Mile High, Denver, CO

Cincinnati Bengals

The Bengals have had some of the best offensive production in the league this season and are scoring an average of 27 points per game. McCarron managed a win against the hapless San Francisco 49ers last week but will have a much tougher task of facing the best defense in the league in Denver. Cincinnati, who finds themselves a +3.5 underdog, can’t afford to start turning the ball over and would be wise to test Gio Bernard’s effectiveness on the ground before they turn the reigns over to an unproven quarterback.

Despite Osweiler filling in for Manning admirably, he’s only beaten one team with a winning record, which should give Cincinnati some confidence that they can do enough to get a win on the road. Geno Atkins and Carlos Dunlap account for 20.5 of the Bengals 38 sacks on the season. A good game from either one – or both – would prove to be a big help for a Cincinnati secondary that is ranked in the bottom half of the league.

Denver Broncos

It’s a true luxury when your defense is dominating the league in just about every statistical category. This means the Bengals may have a difficult time moving the ball at all. With a front line that’s allowing just 3.2 yards per carry on the ground, it could leave Cincinnati little option but to try to win through the air. That would play perfectly into Denver’s hand as they’re giving up just 200 yards through the air each game. If the Broncos play as well as they’re capable of doing, Bengals fans will truly be missing Andy Dalton by games end.

There’s been a glimpse of what Denver’s offense might look like post-Manning and it’s promising. Osweiler has proven capable of running the offense, but lacks the type of refined decision-making that the Broncos are accustomed to. With a running game that’s hit-or-miss, they’ll need to attack a susceptible Bengals secondary that’s giving up 244 yards passing each game. If they can find a way to get Damaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders involved early, they could find themselves ahead in a hurry.

Monday Night Football Prediction

The odds may be different had both Manning and Andy Dalton been healthy enough to participate in this week’s game. Without the two quarterbacks, it’s easy to see why the Broncos are -3.5 favorites to win at home on Monday Night. Their defense is simply too good to be beat by a quarterback getting his second NFL start.

Broncos, 20-13