Breaking down the latest Bengals AFC North odds with Watson suspension
The Cincinnati Bengals, despite winning the AFC North and the AFC Championship last season, aren’t favored to win the division this year. What changed in the odds after Deshaun Watson’s suspension was revealed?
It’s wild that despite the Cincinnati Bengals not only winning the AFC North but also representing the AFC in the Super Bowl that they’re not favored to win the division again in 2022. Crazy enough, though, WynnBET does not have them as the favorites.
Baltimore currently has the best odds to win the AFC North in 2022 with +130 while the defending AFC champions have +185 odds to repeat as division champs.
The Browns, who now know that Deshaun Watson’s suspension will be for six games (at least as of now), are behind the stripes with +280 odds. Watson missing six games means that Jacoby Brissett will be starting those games and that’s not exactly a recipe for success.
Bengals still have better AFC North odds than Browns
Cleveland acquired Watson this offseason despite the charges filed against him by 20+ different women. Judge Sue L. Robinson made her decision on the suspension that Watson would face this season and settled on six games. Tom Pelissero notes in the tweet below the comments from Robinson’s ruling.
Judge Sue L. Robinson’s decision says Deshaun Watson’s “pattern of behavior was egregious,” but notes that behavior was “nonviolent sexual conduct” in explaining the decision to suspend him six games, per source.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) August 1, 2022
The suspension certainly feels light considering what Watson was accused of but unfortunately, unless Roger Goodell appeals the ruling and goes after Watson himself, he’ll be out six games and available to face Cincinnati twice this season.
With Deshaun Watson's 6-game suspension, the #Bengals will face him twice, on Halloween in Cleveland and on Dec. 11 at PBS.
— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) August 1, 2022
The AFC North is always a dog fight and this year will be no exception. Yes, the Bengals won it last season but it came down to the second-to-last game of the regular season for them to do so and the other teams were right on their heels at that point.
Some might not like seeing the Ravens favored to win the division but they were so beat up last year. They’ll be better this year now that their roster is healthy and we know that John Harbaugh is a good coach so I understand why they’re favored.
The Bengals did well last season when they were the underdogs so maybe this year will be the same story.
Next. 3 Moves Bengals Need to Make. dark