The Cincinnati Bengals enter Week 1 as huge favorites, and most analysts don’t see a major reason to put the team on upset watch, either.
Usually, Week 1 throws out some wildly unexpected results, such as the Buffalo Bills getting dropped by the New York Jets in the opener last year.
But Cincinnati faces the rebuilding, Jerod Mayo-led New England Patriots on Sunday and would seem to have a huge upper hand after zero concerns about Joe Burrow’s health.
Case in point, the entire expert panel at USA Today picking the Bengals to win, with only one predicted final score within seven points.
It’s the same thing at NFL.com, with Tom Blair writing the following:
Why Tom picked the Bengals: Were Cincinnati facing almost any other opponent, I’d be thinking more about the impact of Ja’Marr Chase’s ongoing contract drama and stressing slightly about how Joe Burrow’s surgically repaired wrist will respond to serious game action. Week 1 shockers happen, of course, but even so, the Patriots present a fairly friendly-seeming assignment, with the Bengals’ overall talent advantage providing some insurance against a slow start. I don’t want to dismiss Jerod Mayo’s crew out of hand; it just feels like everything would have to go right for New England to have a real chance in this one. That’s a lot to ask for from a rebuilding team in its first game under a rookie head coach.
As of this writing, Ja’Marr Chase has been back practicing with the team for a key reason, yet he doesn’t have a new deal.
Even so, the Patriots do project to struggle enough in 2024 that the Bengals should have an advantage at home, with key names on the New England side already talking about playing the spoiler this year.
This is a key moment for the Bengals and the hope has to be that experts are correct, though, given the slow starts that have plagued the Burrow era to this point.
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