The Cincinnati Bengals (1-3) will hit the road to face the Arizona Cardinals (1-3) for Week 5 of the NFL season. Kickoff from State Farm Stadium in Glendale, AZ is scheduled for 4:05 p.m. ET on Sunday, October 8.
According to DraftKings Sportsbook, the Bengals check in as 3-point road favorites with an over/under of 44. Below, we’ll run through our favorite pick against the spread for this matchup.
Bengals vs. Cardinals, Week 5: Pick against the spread
The Bengals have been one of the biggest disappointments of the season. Their record is now 1-3 after falling by a score of 27-3 at the Tennessee Titans last Sunday. Bengals QB Joe Burrow has been playing through a calf injury, and it’s safe to say that he doesn’t look like himself. As a result, Cincinnati has scored less than 20 points in three of four games this year. To compare, the Bengals scored fewer than 20 points only three times in all of last season, losing each of those contests.
Nobody expected much out of the Cardinals in 2023, as they had the longest preseason odds of any team to win the Super Bowl. However, Arizona has been competitive at the very least. They blew second-half leads against the Washington Commanders and New York Giants to begin the season, but then upset the Dallas Cowboys 28-16 in Week 3. From there, the overmatched Cardinals predictably fell 35-16 against the San Francisco 49ers last week, but this is a winnable matchup for them to bounce back.
It’s difficult to have faith in the Bengals until we see noticeable improvement from Burrow and the offense. On the other side, Cardinals QB Joshua Dobbs has not thrown an interception this season despite playing two of the best defenses in the league. Arizona could realistically be 3-1 right now, and Dobbs has shown that he can play well enough to win games.
Due to that, we are taking the Cardinals getting points at home in what should be a tight contest.