Jason Miller/Getty Images. Pictured: Joe Burrow
It’s an NFL game made only for bettors to watch — the Bengals are a touchdown favorite over the Jaguars on Thursday Night Football to kick off Week 4.
Jacksonville has been bad in three games under Urban Meyer, going 0-3 against the spread with an outright loss to the Texans as a 3.5-point road favorite.
The Bengals have to be happy with where they’re at — 2-1, with a road win over divisional rival Pittsburgh. But more importantly, Joe Burrow looks like himself after a brutal knee injury ended his rookie season. Burrow is averaging more than 8.5 yards per attempt and completing 70% of his passes.
Here’s everything you need to know about watching (and betting!) Thursday Night Football between the Jags and Bengals.
Jaguars vs. Bengals Start Time
- Date: Thursday, Sept. 30
- Time: 8:20 p.m. ET
This game will kick off at the same time as all other Thursday Night Football games this season, which are five minutes later than Monday Night Football (8:15 p.m. ET) and the same time as Sunday Night Football (8:20 p.m. ET).
The Jaguars will only be back in “primetime” once this season — a 9:30 a.m. ET kickoff from London in Week 6 against the Dolphins. This is the Bengals’ last appearance in a standalone game this season, unless they’re flexed into Sunday Night Football late in the year.
How to Watch Thursday Night Football
- TV: NFL Network
- Stream: NFL.com/NFL app (cable subscription required)
Thursday Night Football is available to watch in several different ways starting next week. But for this week, it’s confined just to NFL Network and the NFL app, which requires a cable subscription to watch this game.
Eleven of the 18 games will be broadcast on FOX and Amazon Prime, starting with Seahawks–Rams in Week 5. So if you don’t have NFL Network but do have Prime, you’ll be able to watch next week.
Here is the full Thursday Night Football schedule:
| Week | Matchup | TV Channel & Stream |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | Bengals vs. Jaguars | NFL Network |
| 5 | Seahawks vs. Rams | Fox, NFLN, Amazon |
| 6 | Eagles vs. Bucs | NFL Network |
| 7 | Browns vs. Broncos | Fox, NFLN, Amazon |
| 8 | Cardinals vs. Packers | Fox, NFLN, Amazon |
| 9 | Colts vs. Jets | Fox, NFLN, Amazon |
| 10 | Dolphins vs. Ravens | Fox, NFLN, Amazon |
| 11 | Falcons vs. Patriots | Fox, NFLN, Amazon |
| 12 | Saints vs. Bills | Fox, NFLN, Amazon |
| 13 | Saints vs. Cowboys | Fox, NFLN, Amazon |
| 14 | Vikings vs. Steelers | Fox, NFLN, Amazon |
| 15 | Chargers vs. Chiefs | Fox, NFLN, Amazon |
| 16 | Titans vs. 49ers | NFL Network |
Jaguars-Bengals Odds
- Jaguars +7.5
- Bengals -7.5
- Total: 45
DraftKings opened this line at Bengals -4.5 before quickly moving to -6.5, and then -7.5 not too long after.
The SuperBook in Las Vegas opened this game at Bengals -2.5 before the season, so it’s a big move from that. And sometimes big moves are overreactions. But based on what we’ve seen from Jacksonville, you won’t find much argument that it’s not somewhat warranted.
Jaguars News
The Jaguars didn’t have much hope for this season, with one of the lowest win totals in the NFL, but they certainly hoped to look better than they have so far.
Trevor Lawrence is 30th among all quarterbacks in EPA, he’s averaging just 5.7 yards per attempt and has thrown seven interceptions in just three games. The rushing game has actually been effective, ranking second in success rate-. James Robinson is averaging 5.2 yards per carry on just 31 touches.
The defense hasn’t been any better at 29th of 32 teams in EPA. And they gave up 37 points to the Texans. That says most of it.
Bengals News
The Bengals have to be happy with where they’re at through three weeks. Two wins is great, but Joe Burrow looking like himself is even more important despite a knee injury that ended his rookie season.
Burrow has been a league-average quarterback so far, and the Cincinnati defense has been great (against two of the league’s worst offenses, to be fair), ranking second in EPA/play.
The even better news for the Bengals is the schedule is quite light for the next two months. They’ve got the Jags on Thursday Night Football, then the Jets, Lions, Raiders and Steelers in four of their next seven games.