Bengals vs. Browns Point Spread: NFL Week 1 Odds, Prediction
Cincinnati began the 2024/25 NFL season 0-2 for the third straight year, finishing 9-8 and missing the playoffs for the second straight campaign. The Bengals did go 6-3 on the road and ended a six-game losing streak in Cleveland, thus sweeping the season series with the Browns for the first time since 2017.
The Browns scored a league-worst 258 points en route to an abysmal 3-14 record.
NFL Point Spread and Betting Analysis
The Bengals are 5.5-point favourites on the NFL odds, with a current moneyline of -250. Cleveland’s moneyline is at +200. The over/under is listed at 47.5.
Cincinnati finished 10-7 against the spread last season, including 7-2 ATS on the road and 5-1 ATS as a road favourite. Cleveland was 4-13 against the spread, including 2-6 ATS at home. Cincinnati covered in both meetings between the teams, with the totals going to the under both times.
Cincinnati Bengals
Quarterback Joe Burrow put up career-highs in nearly every passing stat last year, completing 70.6 per cent of his passes for an NFL-high 4,918 yards and 43 touchdowns. Receiver Ja’Marr Chase completed the triple crown, leading the league with 127 catches for 1,708 yards and 17 touchdowns.
However, similar numbers by those two offensive standouts won’t matter if the defence doesn’t improve drastically. Outside of Trey Hendrickson, who led the league with 17.5 sacks, the team allowed 25.5 points per game with a porous run defence and missed tackles all over the field.
Cleveland Browns
This sorry franchise has struggled since its return to the NFL, reaching the postseason just three times and winning only one playoff game. That came under coach Kevin Stefanski, who is 40-44 in five seasons. However, last year’s three-win campaign has him on the hot seat.
His fate rests in the hands of 40-year-old quarterback Joe Flacco, who returns to Cleveland after a one-year stint with the Indianapolis Colts. Flacco subbed in late in the Browns’ 2023 season and went 4-1 as a starter, throwing for more than 300 yards and multiple touchdowns in four straight victories to secure a postseason berth.
NFL Prediction: Who Will Win Bengals vs. Browns?
This feels like an obvious win and cover for the Bengals, but it was the same way last year when Cincinnati opened at home against the lowly New England Patriots and lost, 16-10, as a 9.5-point favourite.
It also happened in 2023 when the Bengals were a one-point favourite on the road at Cleveland and lost 24-3, giving the Browns their first home opener victory in 19 years.
Burrow had his worst passing performances of each season in those two losses, throwing for a career-low 82 yards in the defeat to Cleveland.
The Bengals need to have learned their lesson after three years. Look for them to win, 24-14, and cover as a 5.5-point road favourite this time around.
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