SEATTLE (3-1) at CINCINNATI (2-3)
Sunday, 1 p.m. EDT, CBS
BETTING LINE: Bengals by 2 1/2, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
AGAINST THE SPREAD: Seattle 3-1; Cincinnati 1-3-1
SERIES RECORD: Bengals lead 11-10.
LAST MEETING: Seahawks beat Bengals 21-20 at Seattle on Sept. 8, 2019.
LAST WEEK: Seahawks beat Giants 24-3 on Oct. 2; Bengals beat Cardinals 34-20.
SEAHAWKS OFFENSE: OVERALL (19), RUSH (17), PASS (16), SCORING (6)
SEAHAWKS DEFENSE: OVERALL (24), RUSH (6), PASS (30), SCORING (19)
BENGALS OFFENSE: OVERALL (31), RUSH (31), PASS (25), SCORING (T27)
BENGALS DEFENSE: OVERALL (21), RUSH (31), PASS (10), SCORING (T20)
TURNOVER DIFFERENTIAL: Seahawks plus-5; Bengals plus-4.
SEAHAWKS PLAYER TO WATCH: RB Kenneth Walker III. It’s been a somewhat slow start to Walker’s second season, but he has a chance to break out in a big way against a Bengals defense that ranks 31st in the league at stopping the run.
BENGALS PLAYER TO WATCH: Joe Burrow's calf injury has healed enough that the young quarterback was scrambling and throwing downfield again. He had trouble doing that in the first three games and the Bengals never could get going offensively. Burrow completed 78.3% of his passes last week for three touchdowns — all to Ja'Marr Chase — in Cincinnati's 34-20 win over the Cardinals.
KEY MATCHUP: Will Seattle be able to replicate its record-setting performance two weeks ago against the Giants and overwhelm Burrow and the Bengals offense? Seattle tied a franchise record with 11 sacks in the victory over the Giants after the Seahawks managed just five sacks in the first three games. Seattle was able to take advantage of a depleted offensive line and made New York’s offense stagnant. The Bengals have been pretty good at keeping Burrow upright despite his limitations dealing with his calf injury. The Bengals have allowed 11 sacks on the season.
KEY INJURIES: Seahawks CB Coby Bryant (toe), CB Artie Burns (hamstring), G Damien Lewis (ankle), WR DK Metcalf (ribs) were out at practice, S Jamal Adams (concussion) had limited participation.; Bengals WR Tee Higgins (ribs) and CB Chidobe Awuzie (back) were limited participants in practice Thursday, linebacker Akeem Davis-Gaither (knee) was held out.
SERIES NOTES: The Bengals have won three of the past five games in the series. They also lead 7-5 in all games played in Cincinnati, including 2-0 at Paycor Stadium (formerly Paul Brown Stadium). Seattle won the most recent meeting 21-20 in the 2019 regular-season opener at Lumen Field (then called CenturyLink Field). The teams have met once in the postseason, when Seattle was playing in the AFC. The Bengals beat the Seahawks 21-13 in a 1988 divisional round game at Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium on the way to Super Bowl 23.
STATS AND STUFF: The Seahawks have not won in Cincinnati since 1993, losing their past two trips there in 2003 and 2015. ... Seahawks are 23-9 in their past 32 games that kick off at 10 a.m. PT, including wins in 15 of the past 18. ... QB Geno Smith has posted a 107.9 passer rating in his past 10 road starts. During that time, Smith has thrown 18 touchdowns against five interceptions. ... Rookie WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba has struggled to get involved in the offense. The first-rounder has just 12 receptions for 62 yards and no touchdowns. He had three catches for 5 yards against the Giants. ... The Seahawks tied a franchise record with 11 sacks in Week 4. They were the first team in the league to have 11 sacks in a game since 2018. ... LB Bobby Wagner, LB Jordyn Brooks, CB Devon Witherspoon and DE Uchenna Nwosu all had two sacks in that game. ... Wagner had 17 tackles vs. the Giants, his second game this season with at least 17 tackles. ... Witherspoon was the NFC defensive player of the week after Week 4. Along with the sacks, Witherspoon had seven tackles and returned an interception 97 yards for a touchdown. It was the second-longest interception return in team history. ... The Bengals look to be turning the corner after struggling to score in the first three games. Burrow is moving well again after trying to play through the lingering effects of a strained calf suffered early in training camp. ... The Cincinnati defense finally showed up in last week's win although missed tackles were still a problem. ... Cam Taylor-Britt had an 11-yard pick-6 in the Cardinals' first series after Cincinnati failed on fourth-and-short from the Arizona goal line. ... WR Ja'Marr Chase's 15 receptions broke the single-game franchise record. He finished with 192 yards and three TDs. ... WR Trenton Irwin had a career-high eight catches for 60 yards last week filling in for the injured Tee Higgins. ... The Bengals are second to last in the NFL with 74.6 rushing yards per game. Only the Raiders are worse (71.4). ... Burrow and Chase opened the second half of Sunday's game with a 63-yard TD, the Bengals' longest scoring pass of the season. ... According to NFL’s Next Gen Stats, Burrow's pass traveled 58.1 yards in the air, the most of any TD pass of his career. ... It was also Burrow's 18th career TD pass of 40 or more yards, the most by any QB since he entered the league in 2020.
FANTASY TIP: Cincinnati RB Joe Mixon ran for a season-high 81 yards last week, and the Bengals will continue pushing to establish the run game with their No. 1 back.
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