Minnesota Vikings vs. Cincinnati Bengals Matchup Preview (9/12/21): Betting Odds, Depth Charts, Live Stream (Watch Online)

The Bengals have a lot to be excited about, unfortunately, there is not a lot to get excited about for this season. They have their quarterback of the future in Joe Burrow, but he was ran into the ground last season and exited on a brutal knee injury. He is recovering nicely, but his confidence might be shaken. 

Moving on, the Bengals have the best trio of young receivers in the league. Ja’Marr Chase is their top pick from this year’s draft and he is the cherry on top of an already solid receiving corp. Tee Higgins established himself as a big and reliable target for the Bengals in his rookie season and we should expect the same from him this season. Tyler Boyd is also on the roster and is also a great receiver to have on your roster because of his great hands and great route-running. 

The backfield also has their guy as Joe Mixon is the guy to pay attention to with long-time fan favorite Giovanni Bernard gone. Mixon is one of the best running backs in the league as he has only had 3,359 rushing yards, 1,008 receiving yards, and 25 TDS in his 4 years behind one of the worst offensive lines in football. 

Now that we are talking about the offensive line, they are one of the worst in football. They were the people responsible for ending Joe Burrow’s rookie season prematurely and also were bad for whoever stood in the backfield. They couldn’t open up holes for the running backs and couldn’t protect the quarterback at all. They didn’t improve much that much through offseason moves, so let’s hope they developed for Joe Burrow and Joe Mixon’s sake. 

Now onto their defense where they are beginning to improve. The Bengals got one of the top pass rushers in free agency as they got EDGE Trey Hendrickson. Hendrickson had a great year with the Saints last season as he had 13.5 sacks. He now pairs with EDGE Sam Hubbard who had a nice year with 8.5 sacks. Their linebackers are nothing to brag about, but they have some solid players in their secondary. S Jessie Bates is the leader and he has other solid players in S Vonn Bell, CB Mike Hilton, and CB Chidobe Uwuzie to roam the secondary with. This team started to shine near the end of the season last year and they should be better than the 13th worst defense they showed last season. 

The way the Bengals can win this game is by shortening the game. This means they run the ball and play good defense. Now the Bengals aren’t really built from this, but if last year taught us anything, it’s that the Vikings are also not built for that. The Vikings couldn’t stop a nose bleed last season and I don’t think they improved enough to be scared of them. The Bengals need Joe Mixon to have a huge day on the ground as that will take some pressure off a Burrow and exploit a weak Vikings run defense. Apart from that, you better hope that secondary can hold up against the spectacular Vikings’ passing offense or this game will be over quickly. 

Cincinnati Bengals Depth Chart

QB: Joe Burrow
RB1: Joe Mixon
RB2: Samaje Perine
WR1: Tyler Boyd
WR2: Tee Higgins
WR3: Ja’Marr Chase
TE1: C.J. Uzomah
TE2: Drew Sample

Minnesota Vikings vs. Cincinnati Bengals Betting Corner

Hammer the over in this game. This is going to be one of the easiest bets in Week 1 to place. Don’t overthink it. These two teams have no defensive backbone and awesome offenses. To ensure your confidence, the Vikings allowed the 3rd most points and 6th most yards in the NFL last season while the Bengals allowed the 12th most points and 7th most yards. This is really bad from a defensive perspective and these teams didn’t improve so much in the offseason to be scared of their improved defenses. Meanwhile, the offenses are great as the Vikings scored the 11th most points and had the 4th most yards in the NFL last season while the Bengals have skewed numbers since Burrow went out in the middle of the season due to an injury, but looked incredible on offense before that. Just bet the over and that bet should cash out before halftime. 

As for the spread pick, this is a tough one. In such a high-scoring affair it is difficult to predict which team will be scoring a majority of the points. My brain tells me that the Vikings will end out on top and my gut agrees. This is because the Vikings have proved they can be a hard-hitting offense for the whole season while the Bengals haven’t. Dalvin Cook, Kirk Cousins, Justin Jefferson, and Adam Thielen will prove to be too much for a defense that is still learning how to play and score a ton of points. While the Bengals offense is still good and playing against a weak Minnesota defense, Burrow’s injury still scares me and I will shy away from the bold pick in this case. 

Prediction: Vikings -3.5 & Over 48 pts