The Cincinnati Bengals have appeared in the last two AFC Championships, and securing a dominant future for the team involves finding a way to extend quarterback Joe Burrow. All signs point to the LSU product signing a team-friendly deal along the lines of Patrick Mahomes’ contract, which gave the Chiefs control over their signal-caller for 10 seasons, at an average yearly salary of $45 million – a lot of money, but a manageable deal. The downside for Mahomes, and for Burrow, is less cash, but the upside is playing on a team that can afford to bring in solid players around the quarterback – and can contend. As we move toward the 2023 regular season, let’s look at some insights that will influence the Bengals’ NFL betting outcomes.
NFL Betting News: 2023 Cincinnati Bengals Betting Analysis
The 2023 season starts and ends with the Cleveland Browns. The Browns pursued the opposite model when it came to signing Deshaun Watson at quarterback, giving him the highest contract in NFL history, and guaranteeing every dollar. The deal has a $46 million yearly value, but it locked up a lot of cap room. The Browns have already had to restructure it once to free up cap space for 2023, but that just pushed money down the road and ensures a few seasons in the future when the Browns won’t have Watson anymore but will have a lot of money owed to him that counts against their cap. The Browns should be solid this year, with a new defensive coordinator and plenty of talent on both sides of the ball, with a run-first offense that can chew up clock.
The Bengals host the Rams in Week 3, a rematch of Super Bowl LVI, but this will be a significantly different Rams team, one headed toward a rebuild just two seasons removed from their championship year. The loss of Odell Beckham Jr, the injury to Cooper Kupp, chaos in the running game and departures on the defensive side of the ball sent the Rams from a Super Bowl two years ago to missing the postseason altogether last year.
There are four prime-time games on the Bengals’ schedule, with two coming on Monday Night Football. This prime-time night will feature overlapping doubleheaders on several weeks, but prime-time is still prime-time. They face Kansas City on New Year’s Eve; they had beaten the Chiefs three times in a row before losing the AFC Championship last year at Arrowhead.
After taking on Cleveland in the opener, the Bengals have a fairly soft schedule. A home date against the Ravens is still likely to find Baltimore figuring out offensive chemistry, and then that date with the Rams should be an easy win as well. We’ve seen the Bengals struggle in the first few weeks the past two seasons before figuring things out, but Burrow also has an additional year of maturity and experience. An early trip to Tennessee would have seemed tough two years ago, but with Ryan Tannehill seeming to be on the way out and Derrick Henry not having recovered from that injury two years ago, the Titans aren’t as much of a task. A trip to Arizona finds a rebuilding Cardinals team that DeAndre Hopkins doesn’t want to play for anymore.
A home date with Seattle in the Eastern time zone looks very winnable. After the bye comes a trip to San Francisco, where the 49ers’ pass rush should give Joe Burrow fits. Will Brock Purdy (or Trey Lance) be able to take advantage, though? A visit from the Bills could be a real problem as Buffalo made some impressive moves in the off-season and will have plenty of motivation after losing to the Bengals in the divisional round at home last season. That game is followed by a date with Houston, who will be working C.J. Stroud into the NFL without much talent on defense.
Going to Baltimore after seeing the Texans is a tall order, but then the Bengals host Pittsburgh, which had an impressive off-season and has a confident Kenny Pickett at quarterback. Even so, the Bengals have the talent to push through this. A trip to Jacksonville in Week 13 is interesting, but the Jaguars have to travel to London for three weeks (to play two games) and may hit a wall by this point in the season. Then comes a date against Indianapolis, which will have intriguing quarterback Anthony Richardson almost done with his rookie campaign, and bruising tailback Jonathan Taylor. Then comes a tough finish, with games against Minnesota, Pittsburgh, Kansas City and Cleveland. The Bengals are the favorite to win the AFC North for a third straight year, but the way they negotiate these last four games will determine whether that actually happens.
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2023 Cincinnati Bengals Regular Season Schedule
| Week | Date | Opponent | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| All times ET | |||
| 1 | Sept. 10 | at Cleveland Browns | 1 p.m. |
| 2 | Sept. 17 | vs. Baltimore Ravens | 1 p.m. |
| 3 | Sept. 25 (M) | vs. Los Angeles Rams | 8:15 p.m. |
| 4 | Oct. 1 | at Tennessee Titans | 1 p.m. |
| 5 | Oct. 8 | at Arizona Cardinals | 4:05 p.m. |
| 6 | Oct. 15 | vs. Seattle Seahawks | 1 p.m. |
| 7 | BYE WEEK | ||
| 8 | Oct. 29 | at San Francisco 49ers | 4:25 p.m. |
| 9 | Nov. 5 | vs. Buffalo Bills | 8:20 p.m. |
| 10 | Nov. 12 | vs. Houston Texans | 1 p.m. |
| 11 | Nov. 16 (Th) | at Baltimore Ravens | 8:15 p.m. |
| 12 | Nov. 26 | vs. Pittsburgh Steelers | 1 p.m. |
| 13 | Dec. 4 (M) | at Jacksonville Jaguars | 8:15 p.m. |
| 14 | Dec. 10 | vs. Indianapolis Colts | 1 p.m. |
| 15 | Dec. 16 or 17 | vs. Minnesota Vikings | TBD |
| 16 | Dec. 23 (Sa) | at Pittsburgh Steelers | 4:30 p.m. |
| 17 | Dec. 31 | at Kansas City Chiefs | 4:25 p.m. |
| 18 | Jan. 6 or 7 | vs. Cleveland Browns | TBD |
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