In the second of two Week 4 “Monday Night Football” games, the Denver Broncos play host to the Cincinnati Bengals.
Denver is coming off its second consecutive loss after beginning the season 1-0, dropping a heartbreaking game to the division rival Chargers last week. It was the Broncos’ second consecutive one-score loss after they blew a double-digit lead against the Colts the week before.
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In its first full game without Joe Burrow, Cincinnati was blown off the field by the Vikings as the Bengals dropped to 2-1 on the year, Jake Browning and the offense looked lost throughout the game against Minnesota, and will look to get back on track against a similarly tough test in the Denver defense here.
Can the Broncos get back to .500, or will the Bengals bounce back from last week’s loss? We’ll find out soon enough. But before we break down the matchup, here’s a look at how you can watch the game.
Where to watch Broncos vs. Bengals live
- Date: Monday, Sept. 29 | Time: 8:15 p.m. ET
- Location: Empower Field at Mile High
- TV: ABC | Stream: Fubo (Try for free)
- Follow: CBS Sports App
- Odds: Broncos -7.5; O/U 44.5 (via DraftKings Sportsbook)
When the Bengals have the ball
Cincinnati’s offense was a disaster last week against the Vikings, turning the ball over five times and yielding two touchdowns along the way. The Bengals gained only 171 yards and totaled just 12 first downs and 10 points as Browning averaged 5.2 yards per attempt and Chase Brown was bottled up for THREE yards on his 10 carries.
Things don’t get much easier for the Bengals this week, as they face one of the most talented defenses in the league on the road in a hostile environment. The Broncos have probably underperformed their talent level on defense so far this season, having allowed a combined 849 yards, 55 first downs and 52 points to the Colts and Chargers across the last two weeks, but in their lone home game this year they held the Titans to just 133 total yards, and they have forced four total turnovers to date.
When Browning drops back to pass, he’ll likely find No. 1 receiver Ja’Marr Chase getting shadow coverage from reigning Defensive Player of the Year Patrick Surtain II. Browning has been significantly more likely to target Chase (17 targets) so far this season than Tee Higgins (7), and the Broncos will likely want to force Browning to funnel the passing game in the opposite direction and make him prove that he can win with the No. 2 receiver rather than the No. 1.
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The Bengals offensive line could have trouble holding up against the Broncos’ pass rush, which has generated pressure on 40.3% of opponent dropbacks, according to Tru Media. That’s the second-best mark in the league, while Denver’s 22.3% pressure-to-sack ratio ranks fifth. Browning was dropped three times against the Vikings last weekend, and faces a pass rush that is just as dangerous on Monday night.
Cincinnati’s rushing “attack” has been abysmal so far this season, with the Bengals averaging a putrid 2.4 yards per carry that unsurprisingly ranks dead last in the NFL. Brown has found exactly zero room to run either before or after reaching the line of scrimmage. He’s similarly likely to find little running room against the Broncos, who have allowed just 0.63 yards before contact per carry, the fourth-best mark in the NFL, per TruMedia.
Put all this together and you can see how it’s hard to envision the Bengals offense getting much of anything going in what is a very tough spot — at least unless Browning has a throwback performance to what he did during Joe Burrow’s 2023 absence.
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John Breech
When the Broncos have the ball
Denver’s offense has been a to-date disappointment, with Bo Nix not taking the step forward that many expected from him to begin his sophomore season. Nix is averaging just 5.6 yards per attempt with five touchdowns against three interceptions, and he ranks 22nd in expected points added per dropback and 30th in passing success rate, according to TruMedia. This is despite the fact that he’s been pressured at the fourth-lowest rate in the NFL to start the season.
He has an opportunity to get untracked here, though, against a defense that had allowed solid passing-game performances to the Browns and Jaguars before not really being tested by the Vikings because Minnesota kept racking up defensive scores. Cincinnati has weaknesses at every level of the defense, and doesn’t really have anyone capable of dealing with Courtland Sutton on the perimeter — even with Cam Taylor-Britt getting back in the lineup and having no injury designation for the game after missing Week 3 and being limited in early-week practices.
Denver’s run game has been efficient overall (5.2 yards per carry), but that’s mostly the result of big plays as the Broncos are only 30th in rushing success rate, per TruMedia. J.K. Dobbins and RJ Harvey have each ripped off a couple long runs but Sean Payton would surely like to see his team be more consistent on the ground. They should have a chance to get going here against a soft opponent.
The Bengals held the Browns’ Quinshon Judkins-less running game in check back in Week 1 (49 yards) but have gotten clocked on the ground in each of the last two weeks, allowing 139 yards to the Jaguars and 169 to the Vikings. Cincinnati has yielded 1.66 yards before contact per rush so far, a bottom-10 mark in the league to date. And that’s including the Week 1 game. Over the last two weeks, the Bengals have been at an incredible 2.24 yards before contact per carry, which is an abysmal mark.
Given the matchup, it’ll be relatively worrisome if the Broncos’ offense can’t get things off the ground this week. That said, between Payton’s design and the relative weaknesses of Cincinnati’s defense, that shouldn’t be a problem here.
Bengals vs. Broncos prediction, pick
The combination of the Broncos defense and Cincinnati offensive line issues point us toward this being a Broncos win. Throw in Denver’s home-field advantage and it’s hard to see the Bengals keeping it all that close. We’ll take the Broncos, minus the spread.
Pick: Broncos 24, Bengals 13 | Broncos -7.5, Over 44.5
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