Bengals at Chiefs: Odds, expert picks, analysis, predictions for NFL Week 7

The Bengals are getting prepared to take on the 5-1 Chiefs for a big Sunday Night Football battle. The Chiefs just happen to be the top team in the AFC, so that could have an impact on how the experts and oddsmakers view this game. It looks like another chance for the Bengals to earn some respect from a more national audience. At 4-2 the Bengals won the only primetime game originally on their schedule, a Week 2 tilt with the Ravens.

This game got flexed from Sunday at 1:00 p.m. ET (the Bengals’ favorite time to play) to Sunday at 8:25 p.m. ET (the Bengals’ least favorite time to play). How does that impact the odds and picks for this Week 7 matchup?

Odds

The Bengals are six-point underdogs against the Chiefs, according to Brovada. The line hasn’t really moved since the lines opened. The Bengals will obviously have an uphill battle trying to slow down the Chiefs in Kansas City, so it isn’t surprising the oddsmakers are spotting the Bengals six points.

The over under is set at 58 points which seems extremely high, but the Chiefs are coming off a game where they started off slow and still put up 40 points. They also allowed 43 points, so there is a good chance these two teams will be hovering around that 58 total.

Trends for both teams

• Cincinnati is 6-2 against the spread in its last eight games
• Cincinnati is 6-2 straight up in its last eight games
• The total has gone over in five of Cincinnati’s last seven games
• Cincinnati is 5-2 against the spread in its last seven games on the road
• Cincinnati is 4-2 straight up in its last six games on the road
• Cincinnati is 6-12 straight up in its last 18 games on the road
• The total has gone over in four of Cincinnati’s last five games on the road
• Cincinnati is 4-2 against the spread in its last six games when playing Kansas City
• Cincinnati is 5-1 straight up in its last six games when playing Kansas City
• The total has gone under in 8 of Cincinnati’s last 10 games when playing Kansas City
• Cincinnati is 3-6 straight up in its last nine games when playing on the road against Kansas City
• The total has gone under in five of Cincinnati’s last six games when playing on the road against Kansas City
• Kansas City is 5-0 against the spread in its last five games
• Kansas City is 5-1 straight up in its last six games
• The total has gone over in four of Kansas City’s last six games
• Kansas City is 5-1 against the spread in its last six games at home
• Kansas City is 5-1 straight up in its last six games at home
• The total has gone under in six of Kansas City’s last seven games at home
• Kansas City is 2-4 against the spread in its last six games when playing Cincinnati
• Kansas City is 1-5 straight up in its last six games when playing Cincinnati
• The total has gone under in eight of Kansas City’s last 10 games when playing Cincinnati
• Kansas City is 6-3 straight up in its last nine games when playing at home against Cincinnati
• The total has gone under in five of Kansas City’s last six games when playing at home against Cincinnati

Experts picks

• Fox Sports projects a 21-24.4 point loss for Cincinnati
• All 10 of ESPN’s experts picked the Chiefs
• Only one of SB Nation’s seven experts picked the Bengals to upset the Chiefs
• None of CBS Sports’ eight experts sided with Cincinnati
• NFL Pick Watch, which takes into account picks from around the web, has 97 percent of the picks being in favor of Kansas City

Clearly, the Bengals are viewed as pretty big underdogs. They are going to be going up against arguably the best team in the AFC on primetime in their stadium that is renown for being an incredibly hard place for visitors to play in.

This game is a second chance for the Bengals to show that they belong in the conversation for the top AFC teams, and that they aren’t a team that is going to just make a Wild Card appearance at best. It is rare in life you get a second chance. The Bengals would be wise not to squander this one.