Football

Cincinnati Bengals NFL Futures Odds

After a rocky start to their season and whispers of the cliche Super Bowl hangover, the Cincinnati Bengals have vaulted themselves to the top of the AFC North on the back of a strong second half. Their revamped offensive line is finally gelling, Ja’Marr Chase has returned from injury, and the defense has been solid all year.

This quasi-turnaround is coming at the perfect time for fans living in the Buckeye State, as sports betting in Ohio is nearing its launch date.

Where does Cincinnati stack up in terms of odds to make the playoffs, win the AFC North, conference championship, and Super Bowl? Let’s look at the odds across three different online sportsbooks and dig in.

Cincinnati Bengals Odds to Make the 2022-2023 Playoffs

This one is all but a foregone conclusion and some sportsbooks aren’t even offering odds for the Bengals to make the playoffs. Of the four most popular legal US mobile sports betting apps – DraftKings, FanDuel, Caesars, and BetMGM – only FanDuel and BetMGM have Bengals playoff odds.

Priced at -6000 on Fanduel and -5000 on BetMGM, it would take an absolute collapse by Cincinnati in conjunction with other teams making improbable runs for Joe Burrow and company to not make it.

FiveThirtyEight runs 50,000 NFL simulations each week and then uses that analysis to give statistical probabilities of certain events happening. Heading into Week 15 of the NFL season, the Bengals have a 97% chance of going to the playoffs. 

Even if they were to lose their last four remaining games, FiveThirtyEight still gives them a 47% chance of making the playoffs. That number is only based on Cincinnati’s results to close out the season and doesn’t include any other team’s scenarios.

Cincinnati Bengals Odds to Win the AFC North

Sportsbook Bengals AFC North Odds
DraftKings +115
FanDuel +110
Caesars +110

Since divisional odds for the 2022-2023 season were listed this offseason, the AFC North has seen three of its four teams as the betting favorites at some point. Cincinnati opened with the shortest odds immediately following its Super Bowl 56 appearance, the Deshaun Watson trade made Cleveland the favorite prior to the suspension rumors, and Baltimore has led the way since August.

At the time of this writing, all three of these sportsbooks have the Ravens as the betting favorite to win the AFC North. This is partly because Baltimore beat Cincinnati in Week 5 and the two divisional foes have yet to play their second game against each other. 

The Ravens also have a much more favorable remaining schedule compared to Cincinnati. Baltimore faces one legitimate playoff contender in their final four games – being the Bengals. Cincinnati, on the other hand, will face four teams with postseason aspirations over its last four matchups.

With Lamar Jackson suffering a knee injury and backup quarterback Tyler Huntley in the concussion protocol, the Bengals could potentially end up atop of the division. If Cincinnati pulls it off, this would be the first time in franchise history with back-to-back AFC North titles. The team did win two of three division championships between the 2013 and 2015 seasons.

Cincinnati Bengals AFC Championship Odds

Sportsbook Bengals AFC Conference Odds
DraftKings +550
FanDuel +600
Caesars +525

The Bengals’ odds were as long as +1600 at some sportsbooks early on in the season. With just a few weeks of regular season action left, Cincinnati has the third-shortest odds to win the AFC conference championship. 

The only teams with shorter odds to represent the AFC in Super Bowl 57 are the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs. At the time of this writing, DraftKings has the Bills listed at +160 and the Chiefs at +250.

Cincinnati has never made back-to-back conference championship games in its franchise history. In fact, the last time the Bengals even made consecutive playoff appearances was during a span of first-round exits during the 2011-2015 seasons. 

Prior to that, you would have to go back to 1981-1982 when the Bengals lost Super Bowl 16 and then got bounced in the Wild Card round the following year.

Cincinnati Bengals Super Bowl 57 Odds

Sportsbook Bengals Super Bowl 57 Odds
DraftKings +1000
FanDuel +1000
Caesars +1000

Even after making it all the way to the Super Bowl last year and losing by just three points to the Los Angeles Rams, Cincinnati wasn’t looked at as a top three contender when opening Super Bowl 57 odds were posted.

FanDuel, for example, had six teams with shorter odds on Feb. 19: the Buffalo Bills, Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Rams, Dallas Cowboys, Green Bay Packers, and San Francisco 49ers.