Bengals News: Eli Apple, who's favored, and more

In Bengals news, Eli Apple is back to his trash-talking ways. Also in Bengals news, Cincinnati is favored in the AFC title game despite being the road team.

Apple got made fun of quite a bit following the Bengals' narrow win over the Ravens after he allowed Demarcus Robinson of all people to roast him on a 41-yard touchdown. This past week, he locked down the Bills receivers quite well and made sure people knew about it.

After Stefon Diggs tweeted about some comments that were made about him following the Bills' loss to the Bengals in the AFC Divisional Round, Apple quote tweeted it with "Cancun on 3" and then used a common emoji that had been used by Damar Hamlin throughout his recovery. People did not like this and while Apple did apologize, the original tweet is still up.

Apple needs to tone it down a lot of the time but maybe with a huge game coming up this weekend, he's keeping himself motivated. People won't hesitate to pounce on him if he gets torched by the Chiefs this weekend and honestly, the guy would deserve it.

Speaking of the Chiefs, Cincinnati is favored this weekend in large part because Patrick Mahomes isn't 100% healthy. The Bengals are also straight up just the better team right now whether KC is at home or not.

Here's what's trending in Bengals news.

Bengals' Eli Apple walks back troll job against Bills' Stefon Diggs for apparent reference to Damar Hamlin [Lorenzo Reyes, USA Today]

"The reference to Cancun comes from NBA player Patrick Beverly's comments from the 2020 season when he used them to troll Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard. The comment was made as Portland's postseason run that season was coming to an end and the reference to Cancun was a joke that the eliminated Blazers would be on vacation."

- From Reyes' article

Apple probably should have read the room here. Yes, this is a reference to the NBA but NFL fans aren't exactly big NBA fans and the Damar Hamlin situation is a touchy subject.

Bengals now road favorites vs. Chiefs in AFC title game: Why line has moved, and how history's on Cincy's side [Bryan DeArdo, CBS Sports]

I know that Bengals fans like to think there's some sort of conspiracy here as to why the team is now favored over Kansas City but I'd take it as a compliment. The Chiefs are rarely underdogs, especially at home, so this is means people believe in them for once!

The Bengals can't play the underdog narrative anymore [Stripe Hype]

"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."

- Yours truly

I wanted to include this article from yours truly because it touches on how the Bengals have used the whole underdog narrative all season long. Now that they're not underdogs, how does that change things heading into the AFC title game?