Patriots - Bengals betting trends: Pick, odds, point spread and over/under prediction | NFL week 1

The Cincinnati Bengals will undoubtedly be looking to get off to a strong start after ending last season at the bottom of the AFC North. With starting quarterback Joe Burrow now health, the team is in fact the favorite going in. Yet, against a new look Patriots side that’s desperate for a turnaround, nothing is guaranteed.

Patriots - Bengals: The lay of the land

Without doubt, most eyes will be on the Bengals’ rising star Chase Brown who excelled as the team’s running back down the stretch last year. What’s more is that the rookie impressed as a receiver as well, catching 11 of the 12 passes that he was thrown for a total of 149 yards and one TD across the final five games of the campaign. Needless to say, the Bengals will be looking for more of the same when they get going on Sunday afternoon. With Joe Burrow now healthy, it’s hard not to see them coming out on top in what can be considered a soft matchup. That’s where we come to the odds:

Now, where the details are concerned, there are as always, a few things to note such as the injury report which you can see in full here. As we now know, The Pats will be without Sidy Sow - a major loss to be sure - while the Bengals have lost the services of OT Amarius Mims (pectoral) and DL Kris Jenkins (thumb) which isn’t ideal. Mention should also be made of wideout Ja’Marr Chase who has been listed as doubtful and is understood to be hopeful of signing a new extension prior to kickoff. Should Chase feature, expect him to be limited.

On the whole, this is going to be a game that comes down to which team can overcome their obvious obstacles first. To say it’s been an overhaul for the Patriots would be an understatement and with starting journeyman QB Jacoby Brissett set to play behind a bottom-tier offensive line, it doesn’t appear to be getting better anytime soon. To that end, expect the Bengals to go run-heavy on Sunday which will almost certainly see Brown opening and the more experienced Zack Moss closing as he definitely better between the tackles and at gaining short yardage.

Of course, both players will face encouraging circumstances in that the New England Patriots are in fact the team that allowed the sixth-highest completion percentage to opposing running backs last season. On top of that, the Pats somehow thought it a good idea to trade four-time Pro Bowl defensive end Matthew Judon in the middle of training camp. What this means is that as implied before, things don’t look good in terms of the Pats’ chances.