Entering their Week 9 game against the Cleveland Browns, the Cincinnati Bengals had the second-best odds to win the AFC North. Fast forward to present day after they got their butts kicked by the Browns and now Cincinnati has the worst odds to win the division.
WynnBET gave the Bengals +700 odds to win the AFC North, which are the worst odds in the division. The Ravens lead the way with -180 odds while the Browns leaped into second place with +400 odds, and even the Steelers passed Cincinnati with +600 odds.
Yes, the Bengals beat both the Ravens and Steelers but they looked putrid against the Browns on Sunday and now are 2-1 in the division but 5-4 overall. It was a disappointing loss for a team that, two weeks ago, controlled their own destiny for the rest of the season.
Bengals now have worst odds to win AFC North
Fortunately, there’s still plenty of time for Cincinnati to right the ship. They have three divisional games remaining on the schedule and two of them will come at Paul Brown Stadium with the only road game taking place in Cleveland in the final game of the season. The Bengals have a tough schedule exiting their BYE week but fortunately, the rest of the division has a tough slate as well.
The Ravens are the obvious choice to be favored in the division. Despite winning games in ugly ways, they find ways to win and are 6-2 as a result. Their only two losses came in an overtime loss to the Raiders in Week 1 and in that blowout matchup against the stripes in Week 7. They might find themselves trailing big at times but Baltimore has shown they can win in a variety of ways and that’s what good teams do, as much as I hate to heap praise on the Ravens.
As for the Browns, they overcame adversity this week with all of the Odell Beckham Jr. stuff that was the talking point all week. They seemed totally unphased by it when they kicked the Bengals’ teeth in AT HOME on Sunday. Cleveland is one of those teams that if they could get everything figured out, could be a really scary team in the AFC.
The Steelers have been hit or miss but they have beaten the likes of the Browns and the Bills this year. They’ve rebounded after losing to Cincinnati in Week 3 and will eagerly be awaiting that rematch in Week 12.
The Cincinnati Bengals only have themselves to blame for their AFC North odds. Winning the division was a strong possibility two weeks ago but it’s not anymore and it won’t be until this team figures out how to be consistently good.