Bengals vs Falcons prediction & betting tips - August 18, 2023

The Cincinnati Bengals head to Atlanta to play the Falcons on Friday, Aug. 18 at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Cincinnati lost its first preseason game 36-19 to the Green Bay Packers at home, while Atlanta beat the Miami Dolphins 19-3 in their first preseason game.

The Bengals and Falcons are both expected to play more starters than they did in Week 1. Joe Burrow, meanwhile, will not play as it's expected he will miss the entire preseason as he is healing up from a calf injury.

For Atlanta, meanwhile, head coach Arthur Smith went on "The Pat McAfee Show" and talked about his offensive options:

"Bijan [Robinson] and CP [Cordarrelle Patterson]; they're great all-around football players, and we've got a lot of, especially, a lot of young skill guys with unique skill sets. Kyle [Pitts] and Drake [London], Jonnu [Smith], Mack Hollins. We've got a diverse group of offensive weapons. So we can attack in a lot of different ways," Smith said.

Bengals vs Falcons: Prediction

The Atlanta Falcons are massive -258 favorites at home against the Cincinnati Bengals, in large part because of the fact that most Falcons starters will play. Atlanta is also a 6.5-point favorite in this one.

The Falcons should win this game. I expect their offense to really take it to the Bengals' defense, as we saw in Cincinnati's first preseason game. However, -258 is a tad too high for my liking, especially for a preseason game, so it's not something I would take straight.

Bengals vs. Falcons: Betting tips

With the money line being too high to take straight up, the better way to attack this game is to take Atlanta -6.5, as it is under a touchdown which I like.

The Falcons should get out to an early lead with Bijan Robinson and Desmond Ridder playing the first few series. With the Bengals not playing Burrow and most of their key offensive starters, Cincinnati won't be able to keep up with Atlanta's offense.

I also like the over 38.5 points in this one, as I do expect the Falcons to score plenty of points with their starters. The Bengal's backups will also be capable of scoring around 14-17 points which will be enough to hit the over.

Take Atlanta -6.5 and over 38.5 points.

Match details and how to watch Bengals vs. Falcons

• TV: WAGA-TV Fox 5
• Radio: WZGC-FM 92.9 The Game
• Time: August 18, 7:30 p.m. ET
• Venue: Mercedes-Benz Stadium