Cincinnati is among the top favorites for Week 1.
The Cincinnati Bengals, for the first time in what feels like decades, are projected to be a better team than their northern rivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Steelers won’t have future Hall of Famer Ben Roethlisberger as their starting quarterback this time around which may actually be beneficial after his struggles a season ago.
Rookie Kenny Pickett or former Bears and Bills quarterback Mitchell Trubisky are set to battle for the top spot with the latter being expected to win the battle, especially if the Steelers want to contend this season.
Nonetheless, the Bengals, especially at home, will be heavy favorites when it comes to the betting market. The Bengals finished 10-7 a season ago, ahead of the Steelers which sat in second place in the AFC North at 9-7-1.
The Bengals beat the Steelers 41-10 and 24-10.
Those figures make the fact that the Bengals are opening as 6.5-point favorites tempting to take. Coming from DraftKings, the Bengals are among the top favorites for Week 1. It appears the Colts against the Texans which has a line of 7.5 is the largest spread.
The Over/Under, also called the total, for the Bengals game is set at 45 which would’ve been split 1-1 per last year’s numbers.
That will be a tough number to gauge as Cincinnati is primed to have one of the best, most unstoppable offenses in the league. The Pittsburgh offense will likely be run through Najee Harris which could burn the clock down and limit possessions.
Legalized betting in Ohio is set to be available prior to 2023, but when that exactly is has yet to be determined. As of now, it seems unlikely that is up and running in time for the September 11th Week 1 kickoff.