Cincinnati Bengals vs. Washington Commanders Betting Picks & Player Props

The final game of the NFL’s Week 3 slate and the second half of its first Monday Night Football doubleheader of the season sees the winless Cincinnati Bengals looking to avoid the dreaded 0-3 hole at home against the 1-1 Washington Commanders, who are coming off rookie QB Jayden Daniels’ first career win last week. A full complement of weapons in the Jungle might make it hard for Daniels to repeat his success from Week 2, however.

Cincinnati Bengals vs. Washington Commanders Betting Picks & Player Props - Monday @ 8:15PM E.T.

All odds provided by Betway.

The Cincinnati Bengals had one of the ugliest performances across the league in Week 1, but they looked much more like their title-challenging selves in Week 2, when they would have had yet another win over the Chiefs in the bag if not for an untimely defensive pass interference penalty that allowed the champs to kick the game-winning field goal as time expired.

On Monday, they’ll have a full complement of offensive weapons for the first time this season, as their WR2, Tee Higgins, is set to make his season debut after missing the first two weeks with a hamstring issue. Higgins is not only important in and of himself, but because he will open up the passing game more for the team’s top offensive weapon, Ja’Marr Chase.

In addition, the fact that the defense will have a larger threat to worry about in the passing game means they will be even more hamstrung in the front seven, which has allowed over 100 yards to two of the least talented backfields in football. Chase Brown and Zack Moss are no Franco Harris and Rocky Bleier, but if guys like Rachaad White and Devin Singletary can find success, so can they.

Washington, meanwhile, will hope that rookie QB Jayden Daniels keeps flashing the impressive potential he’s already shown both on the ground and through the air in his first two NFL starts.

The only issue is, he has yet to throw a TD pass, and he’s going to need to get that done here if he’s going to keep up with a fully loaded Bengals passing attack going against Washington’s secondary, which has the lowest coverage grade in the league so far, per PFF. Cincinnati’s back end, meanwhile, is ranked fifth by PFF, so it seems Joe Burrow already has a leg up on his LSU successor here, even before you factor in the differential in NFL experience.

At the end of the day, games often come down to QB play, and Burrow going up against a defense that was carved up by the likes of Daniel Jones and Baker Mayfield makes this one an easy choice, though the size of the spread is a bit worrisome. If you can buy it down to 7.0 or 6.5, that would be much more preferable, though still not ideal.

Best Bet: Cincinnati Bengals -7.5 Point Spread (-110)

Bengals vs. Commanders Player Prop Betting Odds

While we like the Bengals to win, we don’t like their moneyline odds or how big their spread is, so our best bets for this game come in the player prop sphere. As we said, both Mayfield and Jones, whom we can all agree are a cut below Burrow, threw three TDs apiece against this secondary, so betting on Burrow to toss at least two seems like the biggest lock of the night, especially considering the lovely -130 odds we’re getting from NFL betting sites on this prop.

While Higgins is returning from injury, he was close to coming back last week, and he insists he is a full-go for Monday night, which means we shouldn’t expect any snap restrictions. While less so than before, all eyes will continue to be on Chase, and Higgins’ 45.5 receiving yards prop from top sports betting sites seems rather low if he’s not going to be limited, as he’s hit that number in five of his last six full games. So far, Malik Nabers has gone for 125+, Chris Godwin for 80+, and Mike Evans for 60+ against this defense.

Best Bets

• Joe Burrow Over 1.5 Passing TDs (-130)
• Tee Higgins Over 45.5 Receiving Yards (-110)