Commanders vs. Bengals Point Spread: MNF Week 3 Odds, Prediction
The Bengals are winless so far this season yet they are 8-point favourites on the NFL odds.
MNF Point Spread and Betting Analysis
Note that the first Monday night game in Week 3 is Jacksonville at Buffalo, which kicks at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. This one kicks at the usual time of 8:15 p.m. ET but on ABC. You won’t find a football fan who doesn’t like MNF doubleheaders but most would prefer the games be staggered further apart.
It will be the first time a national audience gets an NFL look at Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels, the 2023 Heisman Trophy winner at LSU and No. 2 overall pick in this year’s draft. The last Heisman Trophy winner from LSU? That would be Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 draft. Burrow tore his ACL in his only other meeting vs. the Commanders in 2020.
Washington has a 7-23 all-time record on Monday Night Football but has won its past two. It’s the first time that these teams will ever face off on MNF. They have spilt 11 all-time meetings and meet in Cincinnati for the first time since 2008. Washington was the “road” team against the Bengals in 2016 in London, when the teams tied 27-27.
Washington Commanders
Washington got rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels his first professional W on Sunday with a 21-18 comeback win over the New York Giants. Daniels was 23-for-29 for 226 yards and rushed for 44 yards. While he didn’t lead a touchdown drive, he also didn’t turn the ball over. Daniels was sacked five times and if that he continues, he’s not going to last 17 games. The Commanders have had a pretty conservative offensive gameplan thus far. Daniels has yet to throw a touchdown or an interception. He is the only QB in NFL history, though, to complete at least 75 per cent of his passes (minimum 50 attempts) with zero picks and 100 rushing yards in a two-game span. Running backs Brian Robinson and Austin Ekeler combined for 218 yards from scrimmage against New York, and kicker Austin Seibert, only signed off the street last Tuesday, made a franchise-record seven field goals — including the walk-off winner from 30 yards. That snapped Washington’s nine-game losing streak. It hasn’t won back-to-back games since Weeks 1-2 last year. The Commanders are 3-10 ATS in their past 13 September games.
Cincinnati Bengals
No NFL team has ever had three straight winning seasons despite an 0-2 start each year, and that’s the challenge now facing the Bengals. They rebounded to go 12-4 in 2022 and reach the AFC title game and finished 9-8 last year but missed the playoffs. The Bengals haven’t started 0-3 since 2019, and no team has ever won the Super Bowl starting 0-3. While Cincinnati deserved to lose Week 1 at home to New England, it played well enough to win this past Sunday at two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City but a defensive pass interference call – and it was the right call – in the final second allowed the Chiefs to kick the game-winning 51-yard field goal as time expired. That loss dropped QB Joe Burrow to just 5-7 in his past 12 starts. He hasn’t had No. 2 WR Tee Higgins yet this season due to injury, but he might return for this one. Higgins wasn’t happy to be slapped with the franchise tag this offseason, and fellow star WR Ja’Marr Chase is even more unhappy about his contract situation. Things perhaps aren’t great overall with the Bengals right now. Burrow needs one TD pass for 100 career and can tie Matthew Stafford and Andrew Luck as sixth-fastest players in league history to reach triple digits (in 55th game). Cincinnati is 13-4 SU in its past 17 at home.
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