Phil Agius
Show Bio
The Cincinnati Bengals have risen from the basement to the penthouse in the NFL over the last two seasons, reaching the Super Bowl and the AFC Championship game and creating a fresh rivalry with the Kansas City Chiefs in the process.
Some younger fans may not remember that this golden period in the Joe Burrow-Ja’Marr Chase era followed some darker days, more specifically 3 straight 4th-place finishes in the AFC North and 5 successive losing seasons from 2016-2020.
The question now is whether the Bengals can take the next step and lift the Lombardi Trophy, or will they fall back into the pack in a fiercely competitive AFC? Let’s take a look at some of the odds and best bets to be made on the Cincinnati Bengals.
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Cincinnati Bengals breakdown
2022 record: 12-4 (1 game cancelled)
2022 ATS record: 12-4
2022 O/U record: 6-9-1
Key players in: Orlando Brown Jr. (OT), Irv Smith Jr. (TE), Nick Scott (S)
Key players out: Jessie Bates (S), Vonn Bell (S), Hayden Hurst (TE), Samaje Perine (RB)
2023 NFL Draft class: Myles Murphy (DE), DJ Turner (CB), Jordan Battle (S), Charlie Jones (WR), Chase Brown (RB), Andrei Iosivas (WR), Brad Robbins (P), DJ Ivey (CB).
Head over to the Pickswise NFL futures guide for odds and predictions on various betting markets
Cincinnati Bengals 2023 NFL season odds
Odds provided by FanDuel Sportsbook.
Cincinnati Bengals Super Bowl odds
The Bengals are +1100 to win Super Bowl LVIII. That puts them a healthy 5th overall in the outright market behind only the Chiefs, Eagles, Bills and 49ers.
Cincinnati Bengals AFC Championship odds
Cincinnati is +550 to win the AFC for the second time in 3 years, with only Kansas City (+350) and Buffalo (+450) ahead in the conference betting.
Cincinnati Bengals AFC North odds
At +150, the Bengals are favorites to win the AFC North for a third straight season. The Ravens (+235) are considered the strongest challenger, with the Browns at +380 and the Steelers at +450.
Cincinnati Bengals win total odds
The Bengals’ win total win has been set at 10.5 games, with the over priced as a -130 favorite and the under coming in with +110 odds. They are +550 to finish with exactly 10 wins and +550 for 11. It is +500 that they match last year’s total of 12 regular-season wins.
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Cincinnati Bengals 2023 schedule
Week 1: at Cleveland Browns
Week 2: vs Baltimore Ravens
Week 3: vs Los Angeles Rams (Monday)
Week 4: at Tennessee Titans
Week 5: at Arizona Cardinals
Week 6: vs Seattle Seahawks
Week 7: BYE WEEK
Week 8: at San Francisco 49ers
Week 9: vs Buffalo Bills
Week 10: vs Houston Texans
Week 11: at Baltimore Ravens (Thursday)
Week 12: vs Pittsburgh Steelers
Week 13: at Jacksonville Jaguars (Monday)
Week 14: vs Indianapolis Colts
Week 15: vs Minnesota Vikings
Week 16: at Pittsburgh Steelers
Week 17: at Kansas City Chiefs
Week 18: vs Cleveland Browns
We’ll have NFL picks for EVERY matchup of the 2023 season
Cincinnati Bengals 2022 season recap
There were fears that the curse of the Super Bowl runners-up had struck again when the Bengals made a surprisingly slow start to the 2022 season. They lost 3 of their first 5 games, opening with an overtime loss to the Steelers before losing in Dallas and Baltimore, but none of those defeats was by more than 3 points. The Bengals won 10 of their remaining 11 games, however, with the outlier being a comprehensive 32-13 loss in Cleveland.
The Bengals won the AFC North despite the cancellation of their Week 17 game against Buffalo, finishing with a nostalgic-looking 12-4 record. In the playoffs, they comfortably beat Baltimore at home and Buffalo on the road before Patrick Mahomes got his revenge in the AFC Championship game and the Bengals went down 23-20 in a close game against the Chiefs.
Read our AFC Championship predictions and best bets, including a +1500 longshot
Cincinnati Bengals 2023 NFL season predictions
To answer those questions we posed in the introduction: it’s hard to see the Bengals as having improved enough to break through and win the Super Bowl in the third season of their impressive new era. That’s not a knock on the team, just the reality of the fierce conference they are playing in with up to 12 teams looking playoff-caliber and only 7 spots available. It’s not likely that they will fall back enough to miss the playoffs, barring a long-term injury to QB Joe Burrow either, and it remains to be seen how well the team has covered for the losses of experienced players in the secondary. Expect the Bengals to be strong again this year, but maybe not strong enough.
Here are a couple of my Cincinnati-related predictions for the upcoming season.
Best bet: Bengals to lose in the Divisional Round (+300)
A divisional-round exit won’t be what Bengals fans are hoping for having reached the Super Bowl and AFC Championship game in the last two seasons, but it’s still a solid achievement in a crazily competitive conference and has good value at +300 odds. With Baltimore over its injury issues, the Browns’ starting QB no longer suspended and Pittsburgh not starting a rookie QB this season, every divisional game is going to be a fight and while the Bengals are good enough to be favorites for most games they will play this season, a return to the AFC Championship game won’t be easy.
Cincinnati Bengals season record prediction: 11-6
I’ve pencilled the Bengals to come up 1 win short of last season (and have 2 losses more, thanks to last year’s cancelled game). That may or may not be good enough to win the division but should put them firmly in the mix to make the playoffs. They open up with two tough AFC North games against the Browns and Ravens before a softer run which could see them reach their bye week at 5-1 or 4-2. They return with back-to-back tests against the 49ers and Bills, however, and with Jacksonville and Kansas City to be faced on the road, it’s far from a cupcake schedule and 11 wins would be a solid season.
Find out which players we are targeting for our NFL MVP best bets
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