The Bengals are three point favorites to beat the Broncos in Sunday's home opener at Paul Brown Stadium. The line originally opened at -3.5 but has shifted to -3 with four days to go until the matchup. The over/under for the game is set at 41.
Home teams typically get two to three points in their advantage on the odds, so the fact that oddsmakers only see the Bengals as three point favorites, means they expect this to be a close game.
While the Bengals are 1-1 and retain much of their 12-4 team from last season, the Broncos are 2-0, are the defending Super Bowl champions and beat the Bengals about nine months ago in Week 16 of the 2015 season, a game that essentially handed the Broncos a playoff bye. It was AJ McCarron who led the Bengals to overtime in that game as Andy Dalton was recovering from a fractured thumb suffered a few weeks earlier.
But, the Broncos have a new quarterback, Trevor Siemian, and the Bengals will be looking to make life rough for the first year starter in his first game on the road. Through two weeks, Siemian is 40/59 for 444 yards, 1 touchdown and 3 interceptions. He has a 67.8 completion rate and has had quite a bit of help from the Broncos' dominant defense and solid run game, led by C.J. Anderson whose accumulated 166 yards and 2 touchdowns through two weeks.
The Bengals will have their hands full with the defending Super Bowl champs and a win would go a long way in determining just how good this year’s Bengals team is.