The Bengals are huge underdogs to the Chiefs.
A tale of two weeks for the Cincinnati Bengals. They had everyone believing in them in Week 1 against the New England Patriots. One flat performance later, the Bengals are 0-1 and set to face the Kansas City Chiefs while on the other side of the spectrum as big underdogs in Week 2.
Odds
According to FanDuel Sportsbook, the Bengals are 5.5-point underdogs on the road against the Chiefs. That is surprisingly close, considering the weeks these two teams had. It definitely seems like the oddsmakers still believe Cincinnati will return to form.
The total is set at 47.5 points, indicating they expect some offense from both sides. That is tied for the second-highest total for Week 2.
Expert picks
- Only 1 of CBS Sports’ experts took Cincinnati
- All 11 of ESPN’s experts took Kansas City
- NFL Pick Watch — which takes into account picks from across the web — has the Bengals receiving 4% of picks.
This week reminds me of writing about this team during the Andy Dalton and Marvin Lewis era in the midst of their playoff appearance streak. After a few years, you could tell it was a good team, but they had to prove they were worthy of being considered a contender. It was hard to fault people for doubting them because they consistently struggled against other contenders.
These Bengals aren’t on that level, but we’ve seen some doubt if this team is on par with the ones that went to a Super Bowl and two straight AFC Championships. If they want to be considered on that level they have to prove it. The NFL is a “what have you done for me lately?” league, and Cincinnati came out flat at home against a bad team that contenders should be able to handle.
That all can be forgotten by this team taking care of business in Kansas City.
Staff Picks
Here are our writer’s picks for Week 2.
How do you see Bengals vs. Chiefs playing out? Send us your predictions in the comments section!
