The Cincinnati Bengals made one of the biggest turnarounds of any team in the 2021 season, coming out of nowhere after a 4-11-1 2020 campaign to make it to the Super Bowl.
The team benefited drastically from the breakout of second-year quarterback Joe Burrow and the emergence of rookie wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase.
Cincinnati will look to repeat last year’s success, but some seem to believe that they may have some regression in 2022.
Odds are currently out for the 2022 season, and according to PointsBet, the Bengals are not favored to win the AFC North.
The Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens currently sit at +200 each to win the division, while the Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers follow at +210 and +800 respectively.
This has caught the eye of one Bengals’ player, and he certainly feels strongly that the Bengals are the team to beat in the AFC North.
“I don’t know,” Bengals defensive lineman D.J Reader told NFL.com writer Nick Shook when asked about the Vegas odds. “I watched a couple UFC fights this weekend. Vegas gets it wrong sometimes, too. They win most of the time, they’re the house, but they get it wrong a lot of times too.”
“Who cares? It seems like it goes through us right now, so until somebody comes and takes it from us, I’m gonna be confident in us.”
Despite an impressive playoff run in 2021 which featured the Bengals taking out the likes of the Kansas City Chiefs to make it to the Super Bowl, it appears Vegas is taking notice of some of the big moves that the Browns have made this offseason.
The Ravens will also be bringing back a healthy Lamar Jackson next season, whose ailing health was certainly part of the reason that the team faltered down the stretch last year.
The most intriguing pick to win the AFC North could be the Steelers. While they just lost longtime quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to retirement, head coach Mike Tomlin always seems to find a way to have them in contention to win the division at the end of the season.
The AFC North is always a dogfight down to the bitter end, and it may just come down to who has the healthiest roster at the end of next season.
