Editor’s note: NESN.com’s Mike Cole, Ricky Doyle and Andre Khatchaturian deliver their NFL picks every Thursday of the season. Here’s who they like in the Washington Redskins-Cincinnati Bengals Week 8 game, with the line from OddsShark.
Washington Redskins vs. (-3) Cincinnati Bengals, Sunday, 9:30 a.m. in London
Mike: Redskins. The ‘Skins blew it last week, but this feels like it might be a nice bounce-back matchup. The Bengals don’t have a good win all season, and if Jordan Reed plays (he returned to practice Wednesday), expect Washington to take advantage of a Cincy defense that’s been torched at times by tight ends this season.
Ricky: Bengals. Reed and Josh Norman have been in the concussion protocol, so questions remain about their availability for this week. But mostly, I’m rolling with the Bengals because I still think they’re a decent team capable of taking advantage of certain matchups. It’s important to keep in mind Cincy’s four losses this season have come against the Patriots, Cowboys, Broncos and Steelers — a quartet that is 20-7 combined. Tight end Tyler Eifert likely will see more action this week, too, giving Andy Dalton and the Bengals’ offense another weapon, especially down in the red zone.
Andre: Redskins. Washington only has six three-and-outs on offense this entire season (best in the NFL). To put that into context, the Seahawks had five three-and-outs Sunday night against Arizona. The Redskins’ problem has been red-zone offense (fourth-worst) but they’re going up against the Bengals, who have the league’s fifth-worst red-zone defense.
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Thumbnail photo via Aaron Doster/USA TODAY Sports Images
