The AFC North put not one, but two teams into the playoffs last year, and despite entering the season with high hopes, the Bengals were not one of those two playoff squads. Quarterback Joe Burrow was healthy and put up massive numbers in the passing game to his star receivers, but the defense was not very good en route to a 9-8 finish and another season without a playoff appearance.
Burrow and Co. were awesome offensively, and the star QB set career-high marks in completions, attempts, yards and touchdowns as the Bengals were sixth in the NFL in points per game, finishing even better than in 2021 when they made the Super Bowl. The problem was on the other side of the ball, were Cincy gave up 34 or more points a whopping six times. If there’s a silver lining there, it’s that all six of those blowups came to 2024 playoff teams. In the other hand, the defense really only looked good against awful teams like the Browns and Giants. Longtime defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo was let go, and head coach Zac Taylor brought in Al Golden from Notre Dame, who previously coached linebackers for the Bengals.
The Bengals used three of their first four picks on defense in April’s draft, but they added few reinforcements outside of those early selections this offseason. Golden simply will be tasked with getting more out of this defense than Anarumo did with the same cast of characters. What could help is Cincy’s offense should shine again with Burrow throwing passes to the dynamic duo of Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgings.
We’re going to take a quick look at the Bengals’ 2024 season and the rest of their offseason moves before getting into their track record in NFL futures over the last five years. After that, you can find the odds available at top sportsbooks for their 2025 win total along with Super Bowl and playoff odds as well as key player props to know. Finally, we’ll take a look at the pros and cons of betting on the Bengals in 2025 and give out our best bets.
2024 Cincinnati Bengals season review
- Regular season: 9-8 (Third, AFC North)
- Playoffs: Missed
- Won final five games after 4-8 start
- Most points per game in losses (27.8) in NFL history (min. 5 losses)
- Joe Burrow: Third QB all-time to miss playoffs in season with 40+ pass TD
- Ja’Marr Chase: Fifth player since 1970 with receiving triple crown
- First team in NFL history with NFL leader in pass yards (Burrow), receiving yds (Chase) and sacks (Trey Hendrickson)
2025 Cincinnati Bengals offseason review
| QB | Desmond Ridder | ||
| RB | Khalil Herbert, Trayveon Williams, Chris Evans | Samaje Perine | Tahj Brooks (6) |
| WR | Mitchell Tinsley | ||
| TE | |||
| OL | Alex Cappa, Trent Brown, D’ante Smith | Lucas Patrick | Dylan Fairchild (3), Jalen Rivers (5) |
| DL | Sheldon Rankins, Jay Tufele | T.J. Slaton, Dante Barnett, McTelvin Agim | |
| EDGE | Shemar Stewart (1) | ||
| LB | Akeem Davis-Gaither, Germaine Pratt, Joe Bachie | Oren Burks, Joe Gilles-Harris | Demetrius Knight (2), Barrett Carter (4) |
| CB | Mike Hilton | ||
| S | Vonn Bell | ||
| STAFF | Lou Anarumo (DC) | Al Golden (DC) |
Five-year futures odds and trends
| 2024 | +1300 | 10.5 | Under | 9 | 3rd, AFC North |
| 2023 | +1000 | 11.5 | Under | 9 | 4th, AFC North |
| 2022 | +2080 | 9.5 | Over | 12 | L, AFC Championship |
| 2021 | +15000 | 6.5 | Over | 10 | L, Super Bowl |
| 2020 | +20000 | 5.5 | Under | 4 | 4th, AFC North |
Historical betting data via Pro-Football-Reference.
2025 Cincinnati Bengals futures odds
| Go Over win total | 9.5 (-140) | 10.5 (+155) | 9.5 (-120) | 9.5 (-115) |
| Go Under win total | 9.5 (+115) | 10.5 (-190) | 9.5 (+100) | 9.5 (-105) |
| Win Super Bowl | +2000 | +2000 | +2200 | +2200 |
| Win AFC | +1000 | +900 | +1100 | +1100 |
| Win AFC North | +260 | +280 | +270 | +260 |
| Make playoffs | -150 | -140 | -150 | -148 |
| Miss playoffs | +125 | +120 | +125 | +120 |
| Win No. 1 seed | +1200 | +900 | +1400 | +1200 |
Odds subject to change.
2025 Joe Burrow props
| MVP | +600 | +600 | +650 | +600 |
| Offensive POY | +5000 | +4000 | +5000 | +6000 |
| Most pass yards | +450 | +500 | +500 | +550 |
| Pass yards O/U | 4150.5 | 4200.5 | 4150.5 | 4200.5 |
| Pass TDs O/U | 33.5 | 33.5 | 33.5 | 33.5 |
Odds subject to change.
Reasons to back the Bengals
The NFL is a quarterback-driven league, and the Bengals have a great one in Burrow. It also helps that he throws to Chase and Higgins, one of the bets WR duos in the NFL. Even with rushing offenses making a resurgence last year and the Bengals getting a breakout season from Chase Brown, passing is generally the way to win in today’s NFL. Burrow, Chase and Higgins make up one of the scarier passing corps in the league. That success can help cover up a poor defense, and you can make a case that the Bengals were unlucky to miss the postseason last year. Per CBS Research, the Bengals had the most points per game in losses (27.8) in NFL history for teams that lost at least five games.
Defense is the biggest question mark, and it’s still unclear whether the team will have star pass rusher Trey Hendrickson, of if he’ll be traded before the season. If he’s back in the fold, the team should see some positive regression on that side of the ball, so if the offense remains elite, the Bengals are in a good spot to win 10 games and make the postseason. Golden has worked with Taylor before, which should help his transition to serving as the team’s new defensive coordinator. The rest of the AFC could also be well set up for the Bengals to make the playoffs with potentially just one playoff team in each of the AFC East and AFC South and the Steelers possibly taking a step back.
Reasons to fade the Bengals
The Bengals have three superstars in Burrow, Chase and Trey Hendrickson, but they are one of the more top-heavy rosters in the league. The offensive line remains a major question mark, and the defense doesn’t have much reason for optimism behind the top two or three players on the roster. The lack of depth means the team’s stars absolutely must stay healthy as it’s questionable the rest of the roster will be able to pick up the slack if anyone misses extended time, and the specter of losing Hendrickson will remain over the team until they agree to a new deal.
It’s also fair to wonder where the improvement is going to come from to take this team above its 9-8 finish over the last two years. It’s not like Burrow, Chase and Hendrickson can play much better than they did last season when they led the league in passing yards and touchdowns; receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns; and sacks, respectively. It appears the only potential starters brought in as free agents are guard Lucas Patrick and defensive lineman T.J. Slaton, neither being needle-movers at their respective positions. The draft brought Shemar Stewart to help up front, but he’s having his own contract issues with the team that is costing him valuable preparation time in his first offseason.
How to bet the Bengals in 2025
- Under 10.5 wins -190 (Caesars)
- Ja’Marr Chase Offensive Player of the Year +1000 (BetMGM)
I thought I was going to love the Bengals coming into this year with how good their offense is, but after digging into their roster I don’t see how this team is any better than the one that was 14-13 with Burrow under center the last two years. It’s great that they were able to lock up both starting receivers long-term, but it seems like the rest of the roster beyond the top 6-8 players is screaming for improvement that hasn’t come. This feels to me like a 10-win team if everyone stays healthy, with the potential to crater if multiple stars go missing for several weeks due to injuries.
But on the positive end, I think there’s value in backing Chase to win Offensive Player of the Year. By all accounts, the season he had in leading the league in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns would’ve typically made him the favorite to win the award, but he only finished third due to Saquon Barkley‘s incredible season and there being two QBs worthy of being MVP. If you think the Bengals offense will continue firing on all cylinders, Chase should have a similar season in 2025 and voters will feel like they owe him one after his remarkable 2024 went under the radar in awards voting.
This news was originally published on this post .
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