Cooper Neill/ On one hand, the Jacksonville Jaguars have an 8-3 record SU and ATS . Yet statistically, they're not a dominant team. The Jaguars allow the fifth-most passing yards per game and Trevor Lawrence has 12 touchdown passes and seven interceptions in 11 contests. Jacksonville also ranks 18th in rushing offense. With those metrics, a Joe Burrow-less Cincinnati Bengals squad that needs a win to pump false hope into their playoff aspirations can hang around in a prime-time matchup. Backup Bengals quarterback Jake Browning didn't look awful in his first career start, throwing for 227 yards, a touchdown and an interception with a 73.1 percent completion rate against the Pittsburgh Steelers last week. Cincinnati still has high-level playmakers available with Joe Mixon, Ja'Marr Chase and Tyler Boyd healthy. Tee Higgins (hamstring) could make his return for this contest. Though the Jaguars earned the consensus nod on a 4-3 count, Hanford believes the Bengals have a shot to stay within a touchdown on the scoreboard. "Fresh off a big win over the Texans to grab control of the AFC South, the Jaguars look like an easy pick to roll over the Bengals on Monday night, right? All logic and reason point to yes, but I like the Bengals to keep this closer than expected," Hanford said. "Zac Taylor must realize leaning on Joe Mixon and the run game for more than eight carries would be a wise idea and to just let Jake Browning manage the game in his first road start. Doing so would put a potentially healthy Bengals defense and Lou Anarumo in a position to throw some wrinkles at Trevor Lawrence, at least enough to give him pause, and keep this game within a touchdown." Davenport: Jaguars Gagnon: Jaguars Hanford: Bengals Knox: Jaguars Moton: Bengals O'Donnell: Bengals Sobleski: JaguarsATS Consensus: Jaguars -8.5SU Consensus:Score Prediction: Jaguars 31, Bengals 21
