NEW YORK \u2013 The Bengals begin a new role Sunday.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the role of a prohibitive road favorite, the kind of favorite status they haven\u2019t enjoyed in six years. <\/p>\n
As of Friday from our friends at BetOnline.ag<\/a>, the Bengals are 11-point favorites over a Jets team that is without their first-round quarterback in Zach Wilson and their No. 1 running back in Tevin Coleman. Their top receiver Corey Davis was listed Friday as doubtful with a hip injury and their top defensive player in C.J. Mosley is questionable with a hamstring injury suffered last week in New England. <\/p>\n Only two teams in the NFL are favored by a bigger margin this weekend. The Rams are 15.5-point favorites in Houston against the Texans and the Bills are giving the Dolphins 14 points as home favorites in Western New York. <\/p>\n The Rams and Bills entered the season as two teams considered as legitimate Super Bowl contenders, especially after the Rams acquired Matthew Stafford. <\/p>\n The Bengals? They were solid favorites as cellar dwellers in the AFC North. <\/p>\n Last Sunday in Baltimore changed all that. With Baltimore already spotting them on their radar, the Bengals beat down an MVP-caliber quarterback on his home turf and score 41 against a Don Martindale defense. The Bengals knew they were going to garner a lot of focus and respect, especially from Vegas. <\/p>\n The Jets were humiliated, 54-13, at Gillette Stadium last week and this week they are starting Mike White at quarterback. The QB out of Western Kentucky will be making his first NFL start after being drafted originally in the fifth round of the 2018 draft by Dallas.<\/p>\n Just two weeks ago, against the winless Lions in Detroit, the Bengals were only 3.5-point road favorites. That\u2019s when Zac Taylor famously said, \u201cI don\u2019t care if we win 7-6, or 42-41, as long as we win.\u201d Of course, they ran away in the third quarter and blew out the Lions in Detroit, 34-11. <\/p>\n The Bengals haven\u2019t been this big of a favorite since Week 9 of 2015 when they were 13-point favorites over the Browns at Paul Brown Stadium. They won that Thursday night game to improve to 8-0 but lost the next week on Monday night to Houston, also at PBS. <\/p>\n They haven\u2019t been this big a road favorite since Week 15 of 2015 when they were 6.5-point favorites at San Francisco. They covered with a 24-14 win. <\/p>\n Asked Larry Ogunjobi about #Bengals<\/a> exerting will against opponents at end of games. "We're just really hungry right now." pic.twitter.com\/nusDWIIsUO<\/a><\/p>\n — Mike Petraglia (@Trags) October 27, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n