NFL oddsmakers aren’t high on the Cincinnati Bengals in 2020.
Considering the Bengals won all of two games last year and picked first overall it doesn’t register as much of a surprise. There is some important context that led to such a disaster of course, but it hasn’t swayed the minds of those in charge of the lines.
Over at Odds Shark, for example, Cincinnati slots with the second-worst line in projected win total at 5.5:
“On the lower end of the spectrum, the Jacksonville Jaguars, Carolina Panthers, Cincinnati Bengals and Washington Redskins have the lowest projected season win totals on the board. Jacksonville has the worst number on the board (4.5), with Carolina, Cincy and Washington next up at 5.5.”
The good news? One could safely argue the Bengals sit in a better long-term position than any of the teams mentioned there thanks to the addition of a quarterback prospect as talented as Joe Burrow.
While Washington crosses its fingers with Dwayne Haskins and Jacksonville does the same with Gardner Minshew (Carolina is stuck with a possible stop-gap with Teddy Bridgewater for now), Cincinnati gets to lean into one of the best quarterbacks to enter the draft in the modern era while his surroundings feature heavyweights like A.J. Green, Tyler Boyd and Joe Mixon.
Those details, plus another year of experience for the coaching staff, a revamped defense and possible better health in the luck department all equate to a reasonable expectation the Bengals can outperform the given line here.
Considering all the bad that happened and Cincinnati still lost three games by three or fewer points last year, hitting the over on a 5.5 this year seems like a smooth idea.
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