Cincinnati did not look like Super Bowl contenders, despite a Week 1 win.
Many pundits picked the Bengals as a dark horse with Joe Burrow active; many thought they’d finally take a step forward this year.
The Bengals forced some fumbles in their 33-27 win over the Buccaneers, but color me not impressed.
Burrow, who is questionable for this game with a back injury but vows to play, didn’t play well against what many consider a beatable Tampa Bay secondary.
Now, Josh Allen just roasted the Houston Texans for 35 points, but is that Allen being that good or the Texans that bad?
That’s the central question that we’ll have to answer.
For my money, the Texans’ defense will rebound here, since Burrow isn’t as mobile as Allen, and if he tries to be, he’ll get even more hurt than he already is coming into this.
Cincinnati still hasn’t given Burrow a competent offensive line, with a 29th-ranked pass-block win rate per ESPN.
Will Anderson Jr. was mostly shut down by Dion Dawkins and the Bills’ offensive line, but I don’t expect that to happen here.
At the time of writing, I’m not seeing many props on the Texans to get multiple sacks or Anderson to have one himself; I’d guess that comes in around -120.
When those are released, likely by bet365 first and then followed by DraftKings and other books, smash Anderson Jr. to get at least one sack.
I’m also looking for a team total sacks prop at 3.5.
Betting on the NFL?
Target Houston against the spread despite Nico Collins’ absence, as the Bengals defense is not nearly as good as they may have shown last week.
THE PLAY: Texans -2.5 (-105, FanDuel) | Over 3.5 sacks for Texans (+105, bet365) and Will Anderson Jr. to record a sack (-190, bet365)
Why Trust New York Post Betting
Erich Richter is a brazilian jiu-jitsu blue belt but he has a black belt in MMA betting. During the football season he’s showcased massive profits at The Post in the player prop market the last two seasons. While constantly betting long shots, his return on investment is 30.15 percent since 2022.
