Bengals fans walking into Paycor Stadium on Sunday won’t need much convincing about the winner. NFL.com, ESPN and Sports Illustrated combined for 16 straight-up picks on Titans-Bengals (along with seven from CBS Sports), and all 16 went to the Cincinnati Bengals. What the experts can’t agree on is whether Joe Burrow’s team covers a 10-point spread, especially after the slow start in Baltimore that needed a 35-0 second half to fix.
Cincinnati (4-2) also has the NFL’s easiest remaining schedule, and it starts with a 1-6 Tennessee team that traded Jeffery Simmons to Chicago this week. Here’s how the major outlets see it.
NFL.com: Bengals, five of five
Cincinnati Bengals At Baltimore Ravens Week 7
All five NFL.com analysts took Cincinnati, and four of them had the Bengals winning by double digits. Bobby Kownack’s 42-24 was the highest-scoring projection, and Gennaro Filice’s 38-13 was the most lopsided. Jeremy Bergman’s 27-19 was the only score inside the spread.
Kownack called the Bengals’ offense inconsistent but too talented for a Titans team that got worse on both sides of the ball after the Simmons trade. He closed with a wink at his own track record: “The only obvious element working against them is me picking them with confidence.”
ESPN: Bengals, three of three
Seth Walder (30-10), Eric Moody (30-17) and Pamela Maldonado (27-20) all picked Cincinnati in ESPN’s Week 8 guide, and the Football Power Index gives the Bengals an 86.6% chance to win by an average of 11.1 points.
Maldonado is the caution flag. “Cincinnati can win without pulling far enough away to make this comfortable,” she wrote, pointing to Tony Pollard’s ability to keep Tennessee’s drives alive. Walder went the other way with a bold prediction that Cam Ward attempts fewer than 10 passes in the first half.
CBS Sports: Bengals, five of seven
Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images
Pete Prisco has the biggest number anywhere at 36-10. “Look for an offensive explosion from the Bengals as Burrow starts to get into the MVP talk,” he wrote in his Week 8 picks. That’s a case we’ve looked at, too, in asking whether Burrow’s MVP case is real.
CBS’ full seven-person panel, Prisco included, went 5-2 for Cincinnati against a 10-point line. Jared Dubin and John Breech were the two who sided with Tennessee.
Sports Illustrated: Bengals, eight of eight
The SI staff, including Albert Breer and Conor Orr, went 8-0 for the Bengals without offering reasoning for this game.
Add it up, and most of the experts who gave a score have Cincinnati covering. The numbers back them. The Bengals out-rank the Titans in all 12 EPA and success-rate categories, and Bengals defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II and edge rusher Boye Mafe anchor a defense tied for the league lead with 21 team sacks. If the margin is in doubt, it’ll come down to whether Cincinnati shows up in the first half. Our bold predictions for Bengals-Titans lean toward a fast start.
More on the Bengals
- 5 Biggest Things You Need to Know About Bengals vs. Titans Week 8
- 6 Make-or-Break Players Who Can Turn Bengals-Titans Into a Blowout or a Trap Game in Week 8
- Announcers, Referees, and Jersey Combination for Bengals Week 8 Game vs. Titans
- Will Bengals Trade for Saquon Barkley by Nov. 10? Answering 5 Questions Bengals Fans Are Asking
