To say the Cincinnati Bengals backs are against the wall as the calendar flips to October would be an understatement.
Despite a 2-2 record and sole possession of second place in the AFC North, the Bengals are reeling after back-to-back blowout losses and enter a three-game stretch against teams with winning records when they host the Detroit Lions (3-1) at Paycor Stadium Oct. 5.
Without quarterback Joe Burrow, national pundits are dismissing the Bengals as a threat in the AFC. So are the sportsbooks, which had the Bengals as slight favorites (-150) to make the playoffs before the regular season began.
According to BetMGM Sportsbook, the Bengals are now +600 ($10 bet wins $60) to make the postseason and are +1000 to win the AFC North (up from +260 to start the year). The Bengals opened the year with a win total of 9.5 games. It is now down to 6.5 (Over: +100, Under: -120)
The Bengals are in a foreign spot as the biggest underdog in the league in Week 5. Currently, Detroit is a 10.5-point road favorite over Cincinnati.
“I feel like people have always made us underdogs,” Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase said Oct. 2. “I feel like it’s our job to make sure that we show them they’re wrong.”
What is the Bengals history as a double-digit home underdog under Zac Taylor?
Under head coach Zac Taylor, the Bengals have been a double-digit underdog 10 times. In those contests, the Bengals are 2-8 straight up and 4-6 ATS (against the spread).
The Bengals have only been a home underdog of 10-plus points four times during Taylor’s tenure, and it hasn’t happened since 2020. In those four spots, the Bengals are 1-3 straight up and 1-3 ATS.
2019, Week 10: Ravens 49, Bengals 13
The Ravens (-10.5) came into then-Paul Brown Stadium and dominated the winless Bengals in Ryan Finley’s first career NFL start.
2019, Week 15: Patriots 34, Bengals 13
New England (-10.5) came to Cincinnati and pulled away behind a pair of Tom Brady touchdown passes and a key 64-yard third-quarter pick-six by Stephon Gilmore to beat the Bengals by 21.
Former Bengals running back Rex Burkhead capped the win with a 33-yard touchdown run for the Patriots in the final minute.
2020, Week 15: Bengals 27, Steelers 17
In one of the biggest wins early in Taylor’s time as head coach, the Finley-led Bengals stunned the Pittsburgh Steelers in primetime as a 14.5-point underdog.
Giovani Bernard ran for a touchdown and caught another while Finley’s 23-yard fourth-quarter touchdown run helped lead the Bengals to a victory.
2020, Week 17: Ravens 38, Bengals 3
There was no such magic just a few weeks later as the Ravens (-13.5) came to town and blasted an injury-riddled Bengals club in the season-finale to lock up a playoff spot.
How often have the Cincinnati Bengals lost three consecutive games?
The early years of the Taylor era were littered with losing streaks, including an 0-11 start to the 2019 season. The Bengals lost three straight games 10 times in 2019 (nine times within the 0-11 start and once after that streak was snapped) and four times in 2020.
During a run to the Super Bowl and AFC Championship Game in 2021-2022, the Bengals never dropped three in a row. It didn’t happen again until Burrow’s 2023 wrist injury led to a three-game skid to drop to 5-6. The Bengals lost three straight twice last season, including an 0-3 start and a late-season stretch where the team dropped to 4-8.
