The Cincinnati Bengals are traveling to Florida to play the Miami Dolphins. Even though Cincinnati has fallen to 2-2 after starting 2-0 — and could be without Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins — they are still being heavily favored against the Dolphins, who have yet to win a game or look impressive this season.
Odds
The Bengals open as 6.5-point road favorites against the Dolphins, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. It is fairly rare for a team that has lost two straight to be almost a touchdown favorite on
the road, but it goes to show how close those two games were — especially against the Jacksonville Jaguars, who appear to be a quality team in their own right — and just how bad the Dolphins have been.
The over/under is set at 43.5 points. Miami has yet to get over 13 points in a game so far this season. That means there will be some real pressure on the Cincinnati offense, which could be without Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. Certainly not impossible depending on which Bengals defense shows up, but pretty clear why it is one of the lower totals this week.
Expert picks
- ESPN: All of their 11 experts are going with Cincinnati
- All of CBS Sports’ seven experts are taking Cincinnati
- All of NFL.com’s five experts are going with the Jaguars
- NFL Pick Watch — which takes into account picks from experts around the web — has the Bengals being picked 98% of the time.
Cincy Jungle Pick
Going to be surprised, but I am going to go with the Bengals in this one over the Dolphins. Miami being without De’Von Achane makes a pretty significant difference, since he could have easily given the linebackers and safeties fits. Without him, there really isn’t anything to write home about with this offense.
Meanwhile, Burrow has been playing pretty well as of late. Even without Chase and Higgins, this defense isn’t set up to slow his roll enough as the Jaguars did. This has all the makings of a game that should be an easygoing win, but we will see how this team comes out and plays going into their bye week.
Final score prediction: Bengals 31, Dolphins 17
