Preseason: Cincinnati Bengals vs Arizona Cardinals 8/12/22 NFL Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Cincinnati Bengals and Arizona Cardinals square off Friday in week 1 NFL Preseason action from Paul Brown Stadium in Cleveland.

The Arizona Cardinals will hope to carry over some success from 2021 after finishing 11-6 last year and making the playoffs for the first time since 2015 and also making the playoffs for the first time in the Kliff Kingsbury era. The Cards started 7-0 before backing into the postseason and the stay was short for Arizona as they were bounced in the wild card round by the eventual Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams. Kyler Murray is back in the fold after signing an extension following a 2021 season where he threw for 3,787 yards, 24 TDs and 10 picks. James Conner’s also back after leading the Cardinals’ ground attack but the receiving corps got stronger with the addition of Marquise Brown to compliment DeAndre Hopkins, A.J. Green and co. Defensively, J.J. Watt leads the charge up front while Markus Golden, Devon Kennard and Nick Vigil are among the experienced pieces in Arizona’s linebacking group and Byron Murphy and Budda Baker anchor the Cardinals’ secondary.

The Cincinnati Bengals will be out to make history after a stellar run in 2021, finishing the year at 10-7, exceeding their win total from the previous two seasons combined while also winning the AFC North title. The Bengals took out the Raiders, winning their first playoff game since 1990 and ending the NFL’s longest playoff win drought, Titans, marking the Bengals’ first ever playoff road win, and Chiefs before falling to the Los Angeles Rams in the Super Bowl. Joe Burrow’s back after throwing for 4,611 yards, 34 TDs and 14 interceptions while Joe Mixon returns after heading up Cincinnati’s ground attack with 1,205 rushing yards and 13 TDs last season. Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins also return as the next big 1-2 punch in the NFLin terms of receivers while Tyler Boyd rounds out the solid unit of pass-catchers at the top. Trey Hendrickson anchors Cincinnati’s defensive line alongside Sam Hubbard, Wyatt Hubert, D.J. Reader and Joseph Ossai to name a few while Akeem Davis-Gaither, Logan Wilson and Markus Bailey lead the linebackers and Eli Apple, Vonn Bell, Tre Flowers and others headline Cincinnati’s secondary.

I’m leaning towards the Cardinals here. I don’t expect to see a ton of action from the starters if any here, but the reality is that the Bengals come into the preseason more banged up than the Cardinals and the Cardinals usually play a faster style under Kliff Kingsbury than what the Bengals are used to running in the black and blue AFC North. I don’t love this game off the bat, but I lean towards Arizona here.