Everyone loves a good underdog story and up until now, the Cincinnati Bengals were just that. After putting the absolute smackdown on the Buffalo Bills, however, the Bengals can no longer be considered an underdog. Not after they went into Buffalo and curb-stomped the darlings of the NFL.
Another reason the Bengals cannot be the underdogs anymore is that they're actually 2.5-point favorites for this weekend's AFC Championship Game in Kansas City. This means that if this game were to take place in Cincinnati, the Bengals would be favored by 5.5 points. An underdog that is not.
Even though the attitude throughout the season has been "Nobody believes in us", the Bengals can't say that anymore because CLEARLY, people believe in them.
The Bengals are now 2-point favorites at Kansas City in the AFC Championship Game.
— Matt Verderame (@MattVerderame) January 24, 2023
Who could have imagined, the Bengals as the bully on the block, and the Chiefs a plucky underdog. Major role reversal.
(I'm kidding, sort of)
Bengals aren't underdogs anymore
The underdog narrative is always fun when it's true but it's not true for the Bengals anymore. They dismantled the Bills in a game that was never close and they're 2.5-point favorites for the AFC Championship Game. Vegas doesn't even truly see Cincinnati as an underdog anymore.
I get the whole "The NFL didn't want us to make it here" angle but that point is over now. The Bengals beat the Bills, sent them home for the offseason, and now no neutral field will be taking place. Wasn't that why everyone was so angry in the first place? Cincinnati proved their point and now it's time to move on and focus on the task at hand without trying to play up the underdog angle that isn't true anymore.
Joe Burrow never did like the underdog narrative and said as much ahead of the Bills game. It's time we all get rid of that mentality and take the Bengals for what they truly are -- A Super Bowl contender.