As expected, the Cincinanti Bengals aren’t favorites out of Las Vegas in the minds of oddsmakers heading into the 2019 season.
In fact, those Bengals manage to have the third-worst odds of any team to make the playoffs in 2019, per betting numbers rounded up by Bleacher Report in the graphic above.
Which means the Bengals make for a pretty interesting underdog bet.
Not only is the payout if the Bengals end up making the postseason fantastic, it’s a little unrealistic to think the chances are that slim, not to mention worse than say, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the brutal NFC South.
Some of this idea the Bengals are a nice underdog bet pertains to the AFC North, too. Baltimore lost a lot of noteworthy talent, Clevland has yet to surefire contend and Pittsburgh has to count on new players to step up in the wake of losing major names like Antonio Brown.
Meanwhile, the Bengals retained most of their core, meaning the biggest hurdle is a new coaching staff. But the changes there can’t be much worse than 16 years of stagnation. Zac Taylor’s first year probably isn’t going to be perfect, but finishing better than some of the NFL’s worst teams shouldn’t be too difficult.
