Bengals vs. 49ers: Analysis, odds, expert picks and predictions

You’re probably tired about hearing how close the Bengals were to upsetting the Seahawks in Week 1, but the performance has caused a major shift in how the team is perceived by bettors, oddsmakers and even experts picking the games. If you ever need to get excited about the Bengals game on Sunday, these are some pretty good ones.

Odds

The Bengals are currently 1.5-point favorites, according to Brovada. This line has taken a pretty interesting swing. The Bengals opened up at 2.5-point underdogs at home against the 49ers.

A few things could explain this line heading heading in the Bengals direction. One would be it looking like Joe Mixon is looking more likely to play, and another could be that so many people were taking the scrappy Cincinnati underdogs. If one side is heavily bet the oddsmakers try to entice people to start betting on the other team.

Either way, it is a positive sign after the Bengals were 9.5-point underdogs last week against the Seahawks.

Betting trends

• Cincinnati is 5-0 against the spread in their last five games.
• The total has gone under in four of Cincinnati’s last six games.
• Cincinnati is 1-8 straight up in their last nine games.
• The total has gone under in six of Cincinnati’s last nine games against San Francisco.
• Cincinnati is 1-5 against the spread in their last six games at home.
• Cincinnati is 2-4 straight up in their last six games when playing at home against San Francisco.
• The total has gone over in four of Cincinnati’s last five games against an opponent in the NFC conference.
• Cincinnati are 5-0-1 against the spread in their last six games against an opponent in the NFC West division.
• The total has gone over in five of Cincinnati’s last six games played in September.
• Cincinnati is 5-2 straight up in their last seven games played in Week 2.
• San Francisco is 4-11 straight up in their last 15 games.
• San Francisco is 2-6-1 against the spread in their last nine games against Cincinnati.
• San Francisco is 11-3 straight up in their last 14 games against Cincinnati.
• San Francisco is 1-8 straight up in their last nine games on the road.
• San Francisco is 4-2 straight up in their last six games when playing on the road against Cincinnati.
• San Francisco is 4-1 against the spread in their last five games against an opponent in the AFC conference.
• San Francisco is 1-4 against the spread in their last five games against an opponent in the AFC North division.
• The total has gone over in four of San Francisco’s last six games played in September.

Expert predictions

• Fox Sports predicts a loss for the Bengals with the average score of 24.4 to 26.3
• Eight of ESPN’s 10 experts are going with the Bengals
• CBS Sports has all eight experts picking the Bengals
• Six of SB Nation’s experts went against the 49ers getting the road win (The Bengals also secured Blue the good dog’s pick as well)
• NFL Pick Watch, which takes into account picks from across the web, has the Bengals receiving 66 percent of the picks.

It is pretty shocking to see the Bengals pretty much dominating the major news outlets’ predictions. They put up a great fight in Seattle, and the 49ers didn’t look completely inept in their win against the Bucs. It is still very refreshing to see the Bengals are actually gaining some respect after only a week. It is still on them to go out their and earn it with a win at home, though.