The Cincinnati Bengals have been a Week 1 bust for the past half-dozen years, and if you’re looking at their opener, that’s a stat you can’t ignore. This team has stumbled out of the gate, failing to cover the spread in their season openers for four straight years now. It’s a rough stretch: during this decade, Cincy is just 2-4 straight-up and a dismal 1-5 against the spread in their first game of the season. Oof.
NFC West Showdown Down Under: Rams’ Dominance or Upset City?
We’re kicking off Week 1 with an NFC West slugfest, the 49ers against the Rams, playing all the way in Melbourne, Australia. The Rams are favored by 3.5 points, but history in this rivalry is wild. Last season, a backup quarterback led the Niners to a 26-23 overtime victory in Los Angeles, shocking everyone as a 7.5-point underdog. That was the fourth straight time the underdog pulled off an outright upset in this series, and the fifth consecutive time the underdog covered the spread! Think those streaks lasted forever? Nope. The Rams shut them down in Week 10, dropping a 42-26 blowout on San Francisco as a 5.5-point favorite. That win pushed Los Angeles to 4-1 straight-up in their last five battles with the Niners and a solid 5-1 against the spread in their last six.
The Rams are straight-up money, too. Last season, they matched their 12-5 on-field record with a phenomenal 12-5 point-spread record, tying New England for the second-best ATS mark in the entire NFL. They’re on a scorching 20-8 ATS regular season tear dating back to Week 8 of 2024, including an 8-1 straight-up and 7-2 ATS record when they’re favored by 4 points or less. The 49ers, on the other hand, went 10-1 straight-up and 8-3 ATS as a favorite last year, but when they’re catching points, it’s a different story: 2-4 straight-up and 2-4 ATS. Since the 2023 campaign, they’re 2-8 straight-up and against the spread when they’re underdogs, with only one of those wins coming against the Rams last season. And for those betting the total, the over has hit in six of the last seven Rams-49ers meetings, but only four of those games actually topped 48 points. Plus, with this game played overseas, only three of 17 games outside the United States since 2023 have cleared 48 combined points. Something to think about!
Bengals’ Week 1 Woes Versus Bucs’ Opener Streak
Now, back to those Bengals. They barely stopped a three-game season-opening losing skid last year, scraping by the Browns 17-16. Even then, they couldn’t cover as a 5-point road favorite, making it four straight Week 1 non-covers. It’s a real head-scratcher for Cincy fans. But on the complete flip side of that Week 1 coin are the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. These guys are machines in season openers, boasting five consecutive wins (and a 4-1 ATS record in that stretch)!
So what do these trends mean for Week 1? Are the Rams going to keep cashing tickets, especially with that international game wrinkle? And can the Bengals FINALLY break their Week 1 curse against a Tampa Bay team that seems to own the opener? These are the questions that make Week 1 so wild, and you just know we’ll be watching every snap!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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