Cardinals vs. Bengals | NFL Week 17 Breakdown & Best Bets: Battle of Bad
Written by: Varun Sharma
Published: Sat Dec 27, 2025, 9:34 pm ET
Read Time: 5 minutes
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The Bengals host the Cardinals this week with both teams looking to next year. That being said, there's still a ton of incentive and bragging rights on the line. Let's jump right into it.
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Game Information
Matchup Information
- Location: Paycor Stadium; Cincinnati, Ohio
- Date: Sunday, December 28th, 2025
- Kickoff: 1:00 PM EST
Quarterback Matchup
- Arizona Cardinals: Jacoby Brissett (2024; N/A)
- Carolina Panthers: Bryce Young (4-10; 2024 – 171.6 YPG | 15 TD | 9 INT)
Betting Odds
Odds via Lucky Rebel, an industry leader in the sports betting world.
Analysis & Breakdown
Jacoby Just Sling It
The Cardinals season is pretty much over but there's still a ton of incentive for these guys to come out and play hard. Jacoby Brissett's on the first year of his two year contract with the Cardinals and next year he might not be the starter here, but I'm sure he's keen on adding a little more to the highlight reel.
Brissett's averaging 291.1 pass yards per game this year, he's thrown 19 touchdowns, 7 interceptions and has a passer rating of 93.9. He's been the Cardinals best QB this year and it's lead to some really fun games this year.
Arizona's offense has looked a lot better with Brissett under center and it's lead to one of the biggest TE seasons of all time. Trey McBride's currently on track to break the single season receptions record for TEs and it's all because of Jacoby Brissett.
The defense has been bad, the offense is inconsistent but the guys on this team have shown up every single week. This week they go up against the worst pass defense in the NFL and a Bengals team really playing for nothing.
Cincinnati Bungles
The Bengals aren't good and there's a ton of question marks going into next season. Joe Burrow's looked good when on the field but it's tough when he consistently misses a ton of games. The offense has done it's best, ranking 15th in points despite all the injuries and 9th in redzone efficiency.
The defense has been abysmal. The Bengals are dead last in points allowed, 27th in opponent redzone efficiency, 29th in opponent third down conversion rate and dead last in yards per play allowed. The team can't hold it together on that side of the ball and it's why it feels like the Bengals might be looking for a new Head Coach going into 2026.
Burrow's been back for four weeks now and he's averaging 269.8 pass yards per game with 10 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. He's got a passer rating of 96.3 in these four games and the team's 2-2. They've officially been eliminated from the postseason but the guys are still coming out and playing hard.
Sunday's Best Bets
Trey McBride o7.5 Receptions (-103) | Lucky Rebel
I know that Trey McBride burned all of us on our props lay last week, but I'm going right back to the young TE. He's been on a different planet this year and this feels like the perfect game to help the TE achieve history.
McBride's just 8 receptions shy of clearing Zach Ertz record of 117 receptions in a single season and this week he faces a Bengals team that ranks dead last in receptions allowed to the TE position. The Bengals pass defense in general has been terrible and McBride's in perfect position to take advantage.
Mcbride's seeing a 24.8% target share this year and a 31.5% first read target share. He's been the most consistent part of this Arizona offense and I'm expecting him to have another big game this week.
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