Cincy Better Be Wary of NFL Betting Dog Carolina

The Cincinnati Bengals, NFL betting point spread odds favorites this Sunday, are feeling all good about themselves again. After getting trounced by the New England Patriots 38 to 24 on the road as 5-point dogs in Week 1, the Bengals came back and upset the 2 ½ point favored Baltimore Ravens 15 to 10.

Since many football handicappers (including this one!) had Baltimore ranked #1 going into Week 2, much props must be given to Carson Palmer and Co. for their hard fought victory versus the Ravens. Now, though, the Bengals must prevent from “bouncing” against a team that they’re supposed to beat, the Carolina Panthers, as NFL betting online road favorites.

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Cincinnati Bengals at Carolina Panthers

Where: Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, North Carolina
When: Sept. 26th, 2010 at 1:00 pm EST
TV: CBS
Radio: Sirius – 130 (CIN) 113 (CAR)

NFL Betting Lines

Cincinnati Bengals -3 -125 -190 O 38 -110
Carolina Panthers +3 +105 +160 U 38 -110

Based on the NFL betting trends, neither team has the advantage to cover the spread this Sunday.

• The Cincinnati Bengals are 2 and 8 ATS in their last 10 games overall.
• The Cincinnati Bengals are 1 and 4 ATS in their last 5 games on the road.
• The Carolina Panthers are 0 and 5 ATS in their last 5 games in September.
• The Carolina Panthers are 5 and 2 ATS in their last 7 games overall.

My first thought when analyzing this game was that I should make an NFL betting over under wager but then I saw that Carolina is not only receiving points but that they are also at +105.

To me, that’s a double-whammy. Whenever I don’t have to give up juice and I can receive points, I have to take a deeper look into whether or not that team is worth backing. In this case, the Panthers are definitely worth backing at +3 +105 versus Cincinnati this Sunday.

This could be a bad matchup for Cincinnati. The Bengals’ offense should be okay but their defense might have trouble containing Carolina RB DeAngelo Hall and RB Jonathan Stewart. The reason is because new rookie QB Jimmy Clausen is actually better suited for the pro game than former starter Matt Moore. Clausen learned under Kansas City offensive coordinator Charlie Weiss. He definitely understands how to read NFL defenses and the Panthers aren’t going to make him play like Drew Brees out there.

He’s just going to have to throw to the running backs and tight-ends. That will help the Panthers keep the ball out of Carson Palmer’s hands. The Carolina D needs to start taking chances when Palmer has the ball. Weakside linebacker Jon Beason has 19 tackles already this season but 0 sacks. They need to start sending Beason on blitzes. They really need to blitz Carson. The Patriots forced Palmer into a pick that led to 7 points.

So, there is some hope for Carolina in this game, but their greatest chance at victory, the reason that I firmly believe that the Panthers can win this game straight up or at least cover the spread, is if Cincy does what it always does. The Bengals are a horrible road team ATS. They also tend to fall flat after big victories. For instance, in 2009 after upsetting the Pittsburgh Steelers 18 to 12, they lost to the Oakland Raiders on the road 20 to 17.

Most everybody’s NFL betting prediction is that the Bengals will trounce Carolina and cover the 3-point spread easily. That’s not what I’m predicting. To me, the Panthers have an excellent shot of upsetting the Bengals straight up in this game.

But why force the issue? Right now, I’m getting above even money and points on the home team dog.

I’m making the Panthers to cover one of my NFL betting odds Sunday game picks.

NFL Betting Pick: Carolina Panthers +3 +105

Log onto the sportsbook for more NFL betting lines.

Sources: espn.com, covers.com, tsn.com, nfl.com