Best Bets: Thursday Night Football Bengals-Ravens Props

Week 11 in the NFL kicks off with a great game on Thursday Night Football. The Baltimore Ravens host the Cincinnati Bengals in a NFC North battle. The Ravens (7–3) blew a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter last week in a loss to the Browns. The Bengals (5–4) lost at home to the Texans last week, breaking a four-game winning streak. Baltimore won the teams’ meeting in Week 2, 27–24. The Bengals won four straight before the loss last week.

The Ravens will be without left tackle Ronnie Staley and cornerback Marlon Humphrey, while the Bengals won’t have wide receiver Tee Higgins and defensive end Sam Hubbard. This is a critical game for the Bengals. If the playoffs began today, the Bengals would be out. Cincinnati is also 0–2 in the division. The Ravens are favored by 3.5 points and the game total is 46.5 points. Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow is 15–2 ATS as an underdog of three points or more. 

In the NBA, there are two games tonight. The Heat host the Nets and are favored by 3.5 points. The Thunder are 3.5-point road favorites in Golden State. The Warriors will be without Steph Curry due to a knee injury and Draymond Green, who was suspended five games for an altercation with Rudy Gobert on Tuesday. Here are my best bets for Thursday.

Joe Burrow OVER 1.5 passing touchdowns (+102 FanDuel Sportsbook)
It’s a big game for the Bengals and that means betting on Burrow. He has multiple touchdown passes in five straight games, which coincides with him being healthy and over the calf injury. The Ravens have been great against quarterbacks, allowing only two quarterbacks to throw multiple touchdowns — one was Josh Dobbs and the other was Burrow, who passed for 222 yards with two touchdowns and an interception in Week 2 when Burrow was bothered by the calf injury. The Ravens have faced a lot of bad quarterbacks, including Gardner Minshew, Dorian Thompson-Robinson, Kenny Pickett, Malik Willis and Geno Smith. The absence of Marlon Humphrey hurts the Ravens’ secondary.

Keaton Mitchell OVER 8.5 receiving yards (-110 bet365 Sportsbook)
Mitchell is an explosive running back that has done a lot with few touches. Last week, on Baltimore’s first offensive possession, Mitchell scored on a 39-yard run on his first touch. On the next drive, Mitchell caught a 32-yard pass on a screen play. A few plays later, Lamar Jackson tried to hit Mitchell on a wheel route in the end zone and it was incomplete. Mitchell touched the ball four times for 66 yards. Ravens coach John Harbaugh has talked about getting Mitchell the ball more. Mitchell has appeared in three games and has a nine-yard catch, a catch for minus-four yards, and a 32-yard reception.

Nicholas Claxton OVER 2.5 steals+blocks (-120 DraftKings Sportsbook)
This was one of my favorite props last season, when Claxton averaged 2.5 blocks and 0.9 steals per game. The Nets center made his season debut on Sunday and had four blocks and no steals against the Wizards in 28 minutes. Claxton picked up two fouls in the first two minutes of the game against Orlando on Tuesday and picked up his third foul with 34 seconds left in the first quarter. He was limited to 21 minutes due to foul trouble and still had two blocks and one steal. 

Jaime Jaquez Jr. OVER 8.5 points (-115 bet365 Sportsbook)
Jaquez has scored at least nine points in six consecutive games. The minutes have increased with Tyler Herro out due to injury. The rookie guard has played 38, 32 and 33 minutes the last three games and scored 20, 11 and 17 points. He has taken 17, 10 and 13 shots from the field. 

Wednesday’s record: 1–2 (-1.15 units)
All-time record: 97–61 (+26.56 units)