2022 Cincinnati Bengals Odds, Schedule, & Fantasy Football Team Preview
The 2022 NFL season is right around the corner! We continue our look at every NFL team with the Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals breathed life back into Cincinnati football last year with a breathtaking Super Bowl run, only to come up just a few plays short at the end of it all. They will look to keep the momentum going with their talented roster heading into the 2022 season.
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2022 Cincinnati Bengals Schedule, Lines, and Best Bets
Projected Odds, derived & modified from data originally published by Sean Koerner here.
Win Total and Total Games Favored:
10 (-110) / 10 Games Favored ( 3 Big Favorites / 0 Big Dogs)
It will be interesting to see whether the Bengals experience the dreaded Super Bowl hangover after a disappointing finish to last year’s phenomenal run. They also draw a tougher schedule this year as a result of winning the AFC North a year ago. Their “wild card” games include both Dallas and Tennessee. They also close the season with a brutal seven game stretch (TEN, KC, CLE, TB, NE, BUF, BAL). If they experience any significant injuries throughout the year, that schedule could doom them toward the end of the season.
This offense remains a potent one, and the Bengals did make some additions along the offensive line. However, I have my concerns about the schedule and the defense, and it would not shock me to see a bit of regression from this team in 2022.
Favorite Bet – Bengals to MISS the playoffs at +125 on Caesars
This will surprise a lot of people, but it’s not like the Bengals dominated opponents a year ago. They didn’t win any of their playoff games by more than seven points, and they “only” went 10-7 in the regular season. Even if they only regress by one game and finish 9-8, that’s unlikely to land a playoff spot despite the expanded postseason. The Ravens should be improved, and I simply don’t think it’s a given that the Bengals are elite yet. As long as you can get this at decent plus odds, it’s my favorite bet (though I admittedly don’t LOVE any bets with this team at the moment).
Cincinnati Bengals Props
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Favorite Prop: Ja’Marr Chase UNDER 1,300.5 receiving yards
Yes, Chase is one of the best receivers in the NFL. Yes, he is capable of having huge games every week. However, this number feels a bit juiced up given Cincinnati’s more difficult passing game schedule in 2022. He had 1,455 receiving yards last year, but that was somewhat skewed by a 266 yard game vs. KC and a 201 yard game vs. a depleted BAL secondary. If you take those games out, he only played at a 1,120 yard pace the rest of the year. I realize that the outlier big games are part of the reason why his total is so high, and I am cherry picking a bit to remove them. Still, defenses are likely to key in on him more this year, and teams have an extra year of video tape to study. I like the under here.
Cincinnati Bengals Fantasy Football Projections
Team Rankings and Ratings
Offense Ranks:Rank 5/ Average Rush / Elite Pass/ Rank 8 Points For)
Defense Ranks:Rank 17/ Strong Rush / Average pass / Rank 14 Points Allowed)
Opponent Strength – Rushing:5 difficult vs. rush. 4 soft vs. rush.
Opponent Strength – Passing:8 difficult vs. pass. 3 soft vs. pass.
It will be very interesting to see how the Bengals fare this year offensively, particularly with their passing game. On one hand, Joe Burrow and his receivers have had another offseason to grow and mesh together — and the team did make improvements along the offensive line this spring. On the other hand, the schedule is somewhat difficult based on the strength of pass defenses they will face this year, and that doesn’t even account for the fact that teams like Baltimore should be improved defensively. It’s still difficult to ignore the likes of Burrow and Chase in fantasy football, though, as they are simply top tier offensive options at their respective positions.
Cincinnati Bengals Top Fantasy Football Plays & Picks
Noteworthy Depth Chart
QB: Joe Burrow – Underdog Rank: 84 (ADP 72 / -14.29% ADP Gap)
RB: Joe Mixon – Underdog Rank: 15 (ADP 13 / -13.33% ADP Gap)
RB: Chris Evans – Underdog Rank: 199 (ADP 201 / 1.01% ADP Gap)
WR:Ja’Marr Chase – Underdog Rank: 5 (ADP 5 / 0% ADP Gap)
WR: Tee Higgins – Underdog Rank: 25 (ADP 23 / -8% ADP Gap)
WR: Tyler Boyd – Underdog Rank: 110 (ADP 112 – 1.82% ADP Gap)
TE: Hayden Hurst – Underdog Rank: 173 (ADP 181 / 4.62% ADP Gap)
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New Additions of Note: Alex Cappa, RG // Ted Karras, C // La’el Collins, RT // Hayden Hurst, TE
Departures of Note: C.J. Uzomah, TE
The Bengals have been one of the quieter teams in the offseason in terms of key moves, but that’s not to say that they didn’t do anything. They added three new starters to the offensive line in free agency, and that should provide Joe Burrow with even more time to find his big receiving weapons in Chase, Higgins, and Boyd. The swap from Uzomah to Hurst at tight end is unlikely to cause major fantasy changes; Hurst will be just like Uzomah as a touchdown dependent TE2 option in fantasy football.
I think we can bump up the outlook for both Joe Mixon in the running game and for Burrow’s overall efficiency given the improvements along the offensive line. The rest of the skill players remain intact, and this should be a fun offense once again in 2022.
Image Credit: Imagn