Minnesota Vikings vs Cincinnati Bengals Odds, Spread and Picks for Saturday
- Week 15 Saturday football action kicks off at 1:00 pm EST with the Bengals hosting the Vikings
- Nick Mullens has been named the starting quarterback for the Vikings this weekend
- Get the Vikings vs Bengals odds, picks, and predictions for Saturday here
Saturday’s NFL action kicks off at 1:00 pm EST with an inter-conference matchup between the Minnesota Vikings and Cincinnati Bengals. It’s a battle of backup quarterbacks with Nick Mullens from Minnesota facing Jake Browning of Cincinnati and it’s Browning and Cincy favored by 3-points in the Vikings vs Bengals odds.
Read on for the full Saturday odds for this game and our top Vikings vs Bengals prediction here.
Vikings vs Bengals Odds
| Team | Spread | Moneyline | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesota | +3 (-105) | +149 | O 40.5 (-110) |
| Cincinnati | -3 (-115) | -165 | U 40.5 (-110) |
The Vikings vs Bengals odds for Saturday make Cincinnati 3-point favorites and -165 on the moneyline, giving them a 62.26% implied probability to win. The total is set at 40.5 points.
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How to Watch Minnesota vs Cincinnati
Viewers in the United States can watch the Vikings vs Bengals game on Saturday by tuning into NFL Network. Canadian viewers can watch by streaming on DAZN or TSN.
Vikings vs Bengals Head-to-Head History
There has been minimal history between these teams with the all-time record split at 7-7. Their last head-to-head meeting was won by the Bengals 27-24 in overtime in 2021.
Minnesota vs Cincinnati Public Betting Splits
In NFL public betting, the public is heavily backing the Bengals on the moneyline with 82% of the money and 85% of the bets coming in on Cincinnati. They’re more split with 60% of the bets on the Bengals at -3 in spread betting. Both the money and bet counts are seeing over 80% of the action come in on the Over as of Friday.
Nick Mullens to Start for Vikings
Minnesota went into their bye week on a two-game losing streak and they emerged with a win, albeit in the most ugly of fashions. In a score that looks more like a baseball or soccer game, the Vikings went into Vegas last week and won 3-0.
The game was mere minutes away though from ending scoreless, if not for a 36-yard field goal by Greg Joseph with just 1:57 to go. No game had finished 3-0 since 2007 and it was just the third time in 40 years and just the seventh time in the Super Bowl era a game finished in a 3-0 score.
This was ugly all-around with Minnesota putting up only 231 yards of total offense, while Las Vegas had only 202. The Raiders had only eight first downs and turned the ball over three times. WR Justin Jefferson made his return from a hamstring injury in the game but then exited with a chest injury and is questionable to play on Saturday in the Vikings vs Bengals injury reports.
Minnesota is now 7-6 and trails Detroit in the NFC North who are 9-4. From a betting perspective the Vikings are 7-4-2 ATS overall. On the road, Minnesota have the best against the spread record at 5-0-2, are 2-0-1 as an away underdog and and 4-1-1 as a dog in any situation this season.
Josh Dobbs will be the #Vikings emergency QB on Saturday (QB 3).
The QB rotation will be:
QB 1: Nick Mullens
QB 2: Jaren Hall
QB 3: Josh Dobbs pic.twitter.com/iHBwnwR0tw— VikingzFanPage (@vikingzfanpage) December 14, 2023
Last week’s abysmal offensive performance was enough to make head coach Kevin O’Connell decide to mix things up at the quarterback position. Joshua Dobbs who was brought in to replace the injured Kirk Cousins, has been demoted to the emergency QB spot. Nick Mullens who came on in relief last week will get the start and rookie QB Jaren Hall has been installed as the backup.
Mullens has played in 25 career NFL games, throwing for 5,166 yards to go with 27 TDs and 23 INTs. He’s also been sacked 36 times in those 25 games. Most of those games came as a member of the 49ers, though he’s been with Minnesota since 2022 and has played in five games.
The thought will be that Mullens can offer something different and may open up the offense a bit for the Vikings, as Dobbs is way down in 32nd, averaging just 5.9 yards per pass attempt.
Browning Guide Bengals to Back-to-Back Wins
The Bengals season is still alive with two straight wins under Browning, leaving them at 7-6 SU, tied with Pittsburgh in the AFC North, one back of Cleveland at 8-5 and three back of Baltimore at 10-3.
Browning didn’t fare well in his first start losing 16-10 at home to Pittsburgh, but since then, the Bengals offense has flourished under the rookie signal-caller. He threw for 354 yards and a score in a 34-31 overtime win over Jacksonville on MNF in Week 13 and followed that up with 275 yards and two touchdowns in a 34-14 win over Indianapolis in Week 14.
Browning has joined Chad Pennington as the only two quarterbacks to have to a 70-plus completion percentage and a 95-plus QBR over his first three starts.
Despite Cincy’s poor defensive rankings, 27th versus the pass and 24th versus the rush, they held Garnder Minshew in-check last week to just 240 yards passing. They also shut down Indy’s run game, holding them to just 46 yards on the ground.
The Bengals are 6-6-1 ATS overall, 3-3-1 at home, 3-2-1 as a home favorite and 4-3-1 as a favorite overall.
From THE INSIDERS: Bengals players' belief that QB Jake Browning can keep rolling, even against a stout defense like the Vikings, who are coming to Cincy Saturday @nflnetwork for a game with playoff implications. pic.twitter.com/qnGv5VclCb
— Steve Wyche (@wyche89) December 14, 2023
Vikings vs Bengals Head-to-Head Stats
| 7-6 / 7-4-2 | Record / ATS | 7-6 / 6-6-1 |
| 21st (20.5) | PPG Scored | 17th (21.5) |
| 12th | YPG Offense | 22nd |
| 8th | Passing YPG | 16th |
| 27th | Rushing YPG | 31st |
| 5th (18.6) | PPG Allowed | 19th (22.1) |
| 10th | YPG Allowed | 31st |
| 14th | Passing YPG Allowed | 27th |
| 5th | Rushing YPG Allowed | 24th |
*Stats heading into Week 15
Vikings vs Bengals Prediction
Minnesota has been a stone-cold Under team this season going 10-3 to the Under with each of their past three games going under the total. Perhaps Mullens can change that with a healthy Jefferson if he plays and by taking some shots downfield. Mullens isn’t a rookie and has been in Minnesota since last year. But still only managed 6.4 yards per pass when he came in last week.
Cincinnati games have been almost split, seeing them go 7-6 to the Over, though they’re 2-0 and 4-1 to the Over in recent games.
At least for the time being, Mullens insertion into the Vikings’ lineup is a question mark. Browning has shown, albeit in limited duty he can keep this offense going. Take the Bengals on spread or since the NFL point spread is just a field goal in the Vikings vs Bengals odds, Bengals on the moneyline to avoid a possible push.
Vikings vs Bengals Picks: Bengals moneyline (-165)
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Ryan is SBD's resident soccer pro, though his repertoire is by no means limited to a single sport. His articles have been published by the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), Ontario Hockey League (OHL), and the Kitchener Rangers, and outlets like SportsXpress and Shredthespread.com
