Cincinnati Bengals QB Joe Burrow leads his team (-3.5) against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
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Cincinnati Bengals QB Joe Burrow leads his team (-3.5) against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Cincinnati Bengals (1-0) will host the Jacksonville Jaguars (1-0) on Sunday at 1 p.m. in the game everyone has been anticipating all season. The favored Bengals (-3.5) are coming off a we-only-won-because-the-Cleveland-Browns-don’t-have-a-kicker win 17-16, and the Jaguars took advantage of a Carolina Panthers team that was just happy that everyone got to play and had a good time.
Here are today’s inactive lists:
Cincinnati Bengals Inactives:
CB Marco Wilson
WR Jermaine Burton
TE Cam Grandy
DT McKinnley Jackson
DT Howard Cross III
Jacksonville Jaguars Inactives:
DT Khalen Saunders Sr.
OG Wyatt Milum
RB Cory Schrader
DE B.J. Green II
CB Montaric Brown
Cincinnati Bengals have a favorable fantasy matchup
It’s tough to say that the Bengals have a difficult fantasy matchup this week because the Jaguars’ defense is ranked No. 9 in points per game and No. 8 in yards per game in the NFL. Considering those rankings are based on one game and it was against the Panthers, it’s probably safe to say that they aren’t all that accurate and shouldn’t be used when making fantasy football lineup decisions.
It is also unfair to grade the Bengals’ fantasy stars based on last week. Wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase caught two balls for 26 yards. Tee Higgins hauled in three passes for 33 yards. Running back Chase Brown had one touchdown, but he rushed 21 times and averaged 2.0 yards per carry. Quarterback Joe Burrow threw for one touchdown pass and 113 yards. Fantasy-wise, he was Tua Tagovailoa without the dreadful turnovers.
It’s really difficult to see this trend continuing for the Bengals. It will also be interesting to see how the Jaguars defense does for a second week in a row. We all love to overreact to Week 1, and I’d be shocked if the Jaguars had a top-10 defense by the end of this year and the Bengals had a Dolphins-level-disappointment of an offense. Start all of your Bengals’ players like you would any other week.
USA Today experts pick the spread between the Cincinnati Bengals and Jacksonville Jaguars
USA Today has its experts pick the games every week and Tyler Dragon, Christopher Bumbaca, Jon Hoefling and Jordan Mendoza are split on this game. Sure, the spreads are designed to cause such splits, but it’s particularly easy to see why this is a pick ’em. The Bengals can’t be as bad as they were Week 1, and it’s not likely that the Jags are as good as they were in their win over the Panthers.
Still, it’s early, we all like to overreact and you know never know. Here are the picks from USA Today:
Tyler Dragon: Cincinnati Bengals (-3.5)
“This game has the makings of an upset, but the Bengals are desperate to start the season off strong. They barely won in Cleveland. A win in their home opener to improve to 2-0 will qualify as a good start.”
Christopher Bumbaca: Jacksonville Jaguars (+3.5)
“The Bengals will be a much better team than the Jaguars at season’s end. For now, they are only a slightly better team. The schedule-makers were awfully kind to Cincy to start the season, and I say this as somebody who picked the Jags to win their division.”
Jon Hoefling: Jacksonville Jaguars (+3.5)
“The Bengals always start the season slow, as evidenced by their narrow win over Cleveland in Week 1. It usually takes 2-3 weeks for them to find their footing, so give me the Jacksonville squad that has seemingly found some fire under Liam Coen.”
Jordan Mendoza: Cincinnati Bengals (-3.5)
“Both teams are 1-0 coming off wacky games. It’s hard to trust if the Jaguars are legit yet, and there should be confidence in the Bengals ability to shake off that strange second half.”