Bengals open as underdogs to Chicago: Fair or foul?

The Cincinnati Bengals kicked off against the Dalvin Cook-led Minnesota Vikings as 3.5-point underdogs. They were one of several dogs that were able to make bettors pay on Sunday, a presumably good day for the sportsbooks.

Not looking great early, struggling to move the ball, the Bengals offense heated up quickly, and the Bengals took a 14-7 lead into halftime.

A 50-yard second-quarter bomb to Ja’Marr Chase, who can shockingly catch (yes, that’s sarcastic), helped boost the Bengals into the lead in the second. A Joe Mixon third-quarter two-yard run made it a two-score game.

Despite getting luck on their side with a Dalvin Cook overtime fumble, the Bengals made some gutsy plays and managed to get into field-goal range. Evan McPherson made the rest of history.

The Bengals are 1-0 against the spread and 1-0 on the Over (the total of the two teams which closed at 47.5). They’ll now enter Chicago as underdogs yet again. The sportsbooks are clearly loving the home side.

The Bengals will travel to Chicago, playing the rowdy Soldier Field.

However, from what we saw on Sunday night, the Bears may need more than just their crowd. Especially with the Bengals allowing just 61 yards on 20 carries to a superstar back like Cook, fans should love Cincinnati as an underdog.

Chicago didn’t get anything going through the air, thriving with David Montgomery on the ground. He ran for over 100 yards. Surprisingly, the Bengals run defense looked phenomenal.

With Trae Waynes potentially returning, the Bengals should be able to stack the box. That said, per CBS Sports, the Bengals are three-point underdogs, displayed as Bengals +3. DraftKings has the Bengals money line at +145, an implied 40.8% win rate.

Knowing that, would you bet on Cincinnati?