Jacksonville @ Cincinnati preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 30, 2012 ) Cincinnati 27, Jacksonville 10

Coming off a must-win last week against Baltimore, the Cincinnati Bengals hope to avoid a letdown Sunday against the hapless Jacksonville Jaguars. The Bengals have 12 wins and a tie in their last 13 regular-season games at Paul Brown Stadium after their 27-24 victory last week that snapped a three-game winless streak. The Jaguars followed up an impressive 24-6 win over Cleveland with an offensive clunker last week as Blake Bortles threw two interceptions returned for touchdowns in a 27-13 loss to Miami.

A loss last week would have put Cincinnati two games back of Baltimore in the AFC North and behind five other teams for a wild-card berth, but quarterback Andy Dalton plunged over from the 1-yard line late in the game to provide the victory. “We’ve got to keep taking care of business,” Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said this week. “The next opportunity is Jacksonville, and we’ve got to really focus on them. This is going to be like an AFC North game.” Jacksonville is the lowest-scoring team in the league (14.8) and has the highest interception rate (4.5 percent) and sack rate (11.5 percent) in the NFL.

TV: 1 p.m. ET, CBS. LINE: Bengals -11.5. O/U: 43.5

ABOUT THE JAGUARS (1-7): It has been a rough indoctrination into the NFL for the rookie Bortles, who ranks second-to-last in passer rating (68.3) with six touchdowns and a league-high 12 interceptions. “Obviously, I’m not happy with the way I’m playing,” Bortles said. “I understand that being down and mad at myself and pouting won’t help. I have to learn from it and get better.” Converted Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson has been a pleasant surprise at running back, gaining 235 yards on 40 carries the last two weeks, becoming the first Jaguars back to have consecutive 100-yard games since Maurice Jones-Drew had three straight in 2011.

ABOUT THE BENGALS (4-2-1): Cincinnati entered last week having allowed an average of 36 points and 481 yards in its past three games, all winless, but held Baltimore to 294 yards. Dalton, who was signed to a big contract extension this offseason, has just six TD passes - lowest among all starters - and his 89.7 passer rating ranks 20th. He’s found a new go-to receiver in Mohamad Sanu, who had a career-high 125 receiving yards last week, but Dalton hopes A.J. Green will be healthy after missing the last three games with a toe injury.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Since their Week 3 win against Tennessee, the Bengals have allowed an average of 158.8 yards per game on the ground – 48.5 more than the league average. Losing LB Vontaze Burfict for a minimum of two weeks due to minor knee surgery won't help.

2. Jaguars WR Allen Robinson has caught a TD pass in the last two games and is the only rookie with four or more receptions in seven straight games.

3. Bortles has thrown four interceptions that have been returned for touchdowns. The most since the 1970 merger is five (Geno Smith, 2013 Jets, and Chris Weinke, 2001 Panthers).

PREDICTION: Bengals 24, Jaguars 10