Who will win Bengals vs. 49ers?

The Cincinnati Bengals and 49ers play in Week 13 as the 17th game added to the regular season.

The last two times these two teams played, the 49ers won pretty decisively in 2019. It was only Zac Taylor’s second game as the Bengals head coach, and it was second straight loss. Little did he know that he would go on to lose nine more games before getting his first win.

This Bengals’ team looks completely different now. Andy Dalton had two touchdown passes in that game, going to Tyler Eifert and John Ross. Preston Brown led the team in tackles, Carlos Dunlap and Andrew Billing has tackles for a loss, while Dre Kirkpatrick and William Jackson had passes defended.

The Bengals are much different this year, and are much better.

The problem for the Bengals will be health. The loss against the Chargers was a grind, and most of the starters had medical issues at some point during the game. The Bengals’ depth will be tested against the 49ers.

Since the last game, both teams have drafted new franchise quarterbacks, though we won’t see Joe Burrow go toe-to-toe against Trey Lance quite yet. Jimmy Garappolo is still the starter for the 49ers, and they have gone 6-5 with him under center.

Both of these teams are in the thick of a playoff race. The Bengals currently have the sixth seed in their conference, while the 49ers have the seventh in theirs. A loss for either team would mean dropping out of the playoff picture—an unfortunate result so late in the season. The 49ers are currently 1.5-point favorites over the Bengals per our friends at DraftKings Sportsbook.

So who will win this week in the Bengals matchup against the 49ers?