The NFL world was shaken on Thursday morning when the Tennessee Titans sent Jeffery Simmons to the Chicago Bears. Much of the NFL is still grading the trade, but the Cincinnati Bengals are likely relieved by the timing, as they host the Titans this week.
This matchup pits two teams that seem to be going in opposite directions. Tennessee is 1-6, and their offense is struggling to gel together around quarterback Cam Ward. Meanwhile, Cincinnati just took off like a jet last week, scoring 35 unanswered against the Baltimore Ravens.
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It seems pretty clear-cut how this game is expected to play out, but how do oddsmakers and experts feel about it?
The Bengals are currently 11.5-point favorites against the Titans, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. That is the biggest spread Cincinnati has had this season. They were only 6.5-point favorites against the Miami Dolphins coming off two straight losses. Safe to say the number got a little bigger after Tennessee traded Simmons this week.
The point total is set at 46.5 points combined. The real wild card for these bets is which Bengals’ defense is going to show up. Are they going to give up 200 rushing yards, or will they be able to shut it down like last week against Derrick Henry?
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All of ESPN’s 11 experts are going with the Bengals
CBS Sports has a consensus of Cincinnati winning from their six experts
None of NFL.com’s five experts are taking the Titans
NFL Pick Watch — which takes into account picks from across the web — has Cincinnati receiving 99% of the picks for this game.
Initially, I was worried this may be a trap game at home for the Bengals. Sometimes this team will just drop a terrible game after a huge win. That happens especially when they are playing down to a bad team’s level. I’m not sure how the Simmons trade might impact that, but I am hopeful the Titans are a bit more deflated coming out than fighting even harder.
Either way, Burrow and this offense shouldn’t have any trouble scoring and moving the ball. Their job got a lot easier without Simmons in the middle of that defense. The only thing I’m worried about offensively with the Titans is their running backs breaking off a few big runs.
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Bengals 41, Titans 13
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