Bengals +3, 1pm ET
This was released on Twitter early last week and the line has moved down to +2 as of Sunday morning. This is a 3 unit play (on a 1-5 unit scale) at +3 and even though you don’t get the benefit of the key # of 3, I wouldn’t steer you away from a 3 unit play because I’m expecting an outright win.
I’m definitely not thrilled with the idea of betting on Marvin Lewis, but the Bengals have mismatches at a couple of different positions here – the Colts improved their O-line but still have issues at RT and LT. The Bengals are strong in the front 7 even with Vontaze Burfict suspended. Geno Atkins and Carlos Dunlap keep saying this is probably the best front 7 they’ve had in Cincy. The offense was horrible in the trenches last year and they added Pro Bowl LT Cordy Glenn and 1st round C Billy Price to help that. Dalton gets Eifert and John Ross back from injury against a young defense with a lot of holes. Big day for Indianapolis getting Luck back but I think this is a tough spot for him in his first game back with a rookie head coach and an offense that lacks speed at WR aside from TY Hilton. Cincy should key in on Hilton and pressure Luck a good amount. Bengals should win outright.
