The AFC North will take center stage Thursday as the Baltimore Ravens host the Cincinnati Bengals.
In their earlier meeting, the two teams were deadlocked after four quarters until Justin Tucker hit a 24-yard field goal to give Baltimore a 41-38 victory.
With both teams averaging more than 26 points per game, it’s no surprise that our total has jumped over three points from 49.5 to 53.
Such a matchup between two high-scoring teams can be particularly appealing when putting together a same-game parlay.
Lamar Jackson 2+ passing touchdowns (-110)
DraftKings currently lists the Ravens quarterback as the favorite to win the MVP award. Jackson leads the league with a 77.0 Total QBR value — he’s arguably having his best passing season.
His 68.2% completion rate is a career-best, and his two interceptions are tied for the second-fewest among quarterbacks with at least 200 pass attempts.
The Ravens often faced criticism for not surrounding Jackson with a true No. 1 wide receiver. That’s no longer true after selecting Boston College’s Zay Flowers 22nd overall in the 2023 draft.
Thus, Jackson is now playing with much more confidence while continuing to show growth in his seventh season.
He’s thrown at least two touchdowns in each of his past three games, in addition to his previous three meetings against the Bengals.
Jackson has reached a point in his career where he now trusts his ability to make plays by using his throwing arm just as much as he does with his legs.
Mark Andrews 25+ receiving yards (-400)
Andrews looks fully recovered from the ankle injury he suffered in Week 11 last year that forced him to miss the rest of the regular season.
Although Isaiah Likely ultimately emerged as a viable replacement, the Coastal Carolina product is dealing with a hamstring injury and won’t play Thursday.
According to StatMuse, the Ravens have the seventh-most targets to tight ends and Andrews could be the beneficiary of an increased workload with Likely out.
With Andrews logging 25 or more receiving yards in his last five games, this prop is a no-brainer to add to our same-game parlay.
Derrick Henry 80+ rushing yards (-200)
It’s difficult to imagine a game where Henry doesn’t finish with more than 80 rushing yards. The bruising running back ranks second in the league in yards per carry (6.3).
He’s exceeded this number in seven of his past eight games and has a history of breaking off some long runs of 20 or more yards.
Henry should be able to feast when facing a Bengals team that ranks 25th among NFL defenses against the run based on the FTN Fantasy Defense-adjusted Value Over Average (DVOA) metric.
Joe Burrow 2+ passing touchdowns (-175)
The Bengals often play catchup because of their leaky defense.
As a result, their franchise quarterback has no choice but to don his Superman cape to bail his team out of trouble.
Thus, since the Bengals tend to fall behind early, they often have to abandon the run, which explains why they rank 27th among NFL offenses in rush rate (39%).
Burrow has been arguably just as important to his team as Jackson, ranking second in Total QBR (76.3) with a 20-to-4 touchdown-to-interception ratio.
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It’s never easy to try and slow down a quarterback of his quality, and the game script should result in another big passing game for Burrow.
The Ravens have the third-best run defense by DVOA standards, and they’re allowing just 2.2 yards per carry inside the red zone.
Given the projection for a high-scoring game, Burrow’s arm remains best for the Bengals to put points on the scoreboard.
Same-game parlay (+415, DraftKings)
- Lamar Jackson 2+ passing touchdowns
- Mark Andrews 25+ receiving yards
- Derrick Henry 80+ rushing yards
- Joe Burrow 2+ passing touchdowns
Why Trust New York Post Betting
Michael Arinze handicaps most major sports for the New York Post. He’s cashed two 15-leg teasers in his betting career as well as a 12-leg parlay that included eight Little League World Series games. More recently, he accurately picked finalists in the 2024 European Championships and Copa America.
