Uh oh. Hold onto something — this looks like it might get a little bumpy. At the beginning of this past week, the Dolphins were pegged as betting favorites by a point and a half in their head to head clash with the lowly Cincinnati Bengals. And, as any good bettor knows, following the trend of the spread will tell you quite a bit about the expectation and probable result of the game in question.
If that is to believed, the line is telling us that the Dolphins are in peril this weekend. Miami started out as a slim favorite at home and has seen the line steadily swell in Cincinnati’s favor. This morning, just hours before kickoff? The Dolphins are listed as 1.5-point underdogs to the 1-13 Bengals for Week 16, according to BetMGM.
Depending on the perspective, this could be seen as impending doom or a potential glimmer of hope. Of course, the Dolphins are currently chasing the Bengals in the NFL Draft order and their aspirations of the top pick in the NFL Draft teetering on the brink, a loss to the Bengals would be a huge boost in this area. A win by Cincinnati, according to ESPN’s Football Power Index, would move the Dolphins’ odds of securing the top pick to 6.9%.
A betting upset by Miami would result in the Bengals locking the top-pick in permanently. So yeah, seeing the spread for the game tilt to the Bengals’ side is disheartening and doesn’t serve as a good omen for Dolphins fans looking for a win this afternoon. But a loss sure wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world either, if we’re being honest.
[Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.]
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