Believe it or not, the Bengals are not the biggest underdogs for Week 1 of the NFL regular season. The Redskins, the one team the Bengals beat in the preseason, are 10-point underdogs against the Eagles.
So yeah, The Seahawks are favored by 9.5 points against the new-look Bengals, but it could be worse, albeit barely.
There are a few reasons for the vast point spread, one of them being how much of an unknown Cincinnati has become under a brand new coaching staff. The roster itself didn’t experience much turnover, but the staff that’s in charge of elevating said roster has plenty of new faces.