Cincinnati Bengals

2005 Stats

2005 Season Summary

Coming off an 8-8 campaign in 2004 and playing in one of the NFL's worst divisions, the AFC North, the Cincinnati Bengals were the consensus favorite to take the division title as they had shown marked improvement under head coach Marvin Lewis who instilled some much needed pride, identity, and direction to what was one of the NFL's worst franchises for well over a decade.

Questionable defense

The Bengals entered 2005 with a highly touted offense but questionable defense, which was to prove prophetic by season's end. It was believed by most experts and savvy gamblers, however, that Lewis would get the defense to stabilize and that if it could maintain a similar performance to the 19 th ranked 2004 unit, there was enough firepower on offense to get the Bengals over the top.

Cincinnati was just 3-5 against the spread in their first two exhibition campaigns under Lewis and began preseason play by hosting New England as 2.5-point chalks, losing 13-23.

The one preseason trait that was positive for the Bengals under Lewis was their 3-1 mark against the spread when coming off a straight up loss. This trend held firm as Cincinnati won at Washington 24-17 as 2.5-point dogs. They lost at Philadelphia the following week 17-27 as 4.5-point dogs.

The preseason finale was at home against the Colts, who were blatantly tanking the preseason. Add to that the fact that the Bengals were now 4-1 against the spread in preseason under Lewis when coming off a straight up loss and savvy gamblers had themselves a solid play on Cincinnati as 5.5-point chalks. It was an easy 38-0 payoff.

A roaring start

Cincinnati got off to a roaring start in 2005 as they began their season at Cleveland against the intra-state rival Browns. As 4-point road chalks the Bengals took the cash in a 27-13 win.

Next was the home opener against shell shocked Minnesota . The Bengals were 3.5-point chalks and blew the Vikings out 37-8 for their second straight payoff and under. The oddsmakers knew of Cincinnati 's reputation for strong offense and weak defense and were posting high numbers to compensate for the general betting public's stereotype of Cincinnati and high scoring games. Once again, this served as a great less to savvy pro football bettors regarding value.

Cincinnati posted their third straight under in a 24-7 win at Chicago as 3-point chalks. They then were listed as 10-point home chalks in their next game against reeling and reeking Houston . In another lesson to gamblers about not allowing themselves to be blindsided by hype and perception the Bengals won but didn't cover 16-10 for their fourth straight under to stand 4-0 straight up, 3-1 against the spread and 0-4 on overs at the quarter pole.

Cincinnati traveled to resurgent Jacksonville where they were a 3-point dog, losing 20-23 for a push as the game sailed over the total. Gamblers who hung tough with the Bengals were rewarded in their next game, a 31-23 win at rebuilding Tennessee as 3-point chalks, which was the second straight over posted by Cincinnati.

A trap exposed the Bengals

A division showdown at home versus Pittsburgh was next. The city of Cincinnati eagerly anticipated this showdown affair and many gamblers were enticed by the small lay of 1.5-points. It proved to be a trap as the veteran Steelers won easily 13-27 as the game went under.

Having been exposed, the Bengals were in letdown mode the next week at home as 9.5-point chalks against Green Bay in a meek 21-14 win and under.

Cincinnati closed out the first half of the season before the bye with a nice 21-9 win at Baltimore as 3-point chalks to stand at 7-2 straight up, 5-3-1 against the spread, with 7 unders in 9 games as they took a week off before the stretch drive to the playoffs.

Defense exposed

Cincinnati hosted the undefeated Colts to begin the season's second half and were installed as tempting 5-point dogs. Their defense was exposed as incapable of championship football, however, in a 37-45 loss. The following week against downtrodden Baltimore , the Bengals got back on track with a 42-29 win as 9.5-point chalks for their second straight over.

Bengals blindside conventional “wisdom”

Next came a revenge rematch with the Steelers at Pittsburgh . Pittsburgh was installed as 3-point chalks and few gamblers saw Cincinnati capable of winning at Pittsburgh when they couldn't handle the Steelers at home in front of a huge crowd. Once again, conventional “wisdom” was to be proven wrong as the Bengals stunned Pittsburgh and many gamblers with a 38-31 upset win. The sports betting market was obviously correcting itself on the totals, as this was the third straight high scoring over posted by the Bengals.

The win at Pittsburgh put Cincinnati back into the driver's seat for the AFC North title as they came home to host Cleveland as 11.5-point chalks. This proved to be a good spot for a letdown as the Brown covered in a 20-23 loss that snuck under by one-half of a point.

No “sure things”

Cincinnati next layed a stunning 10 points at Detroit , which proved to be a bargain in their 41-17 win that soared over the total. The next week, however, Cincinnati failed to do its heavy lifting as they suffered a stunning 27-37 home loss to a poor Buffalo team. This was another classic lesson for gamblers to remember about the perils of betting pro football and that there are simply no “sure things.” There was simply nothing to indicate that Buffalo was going to beat the Bengals. The regular season ended with a 3-37 loss at Kansas City against a 10-point favored Chiefs team trying to earn a playoff berth and win coach Dick Vermeil's farewell home game.

“Defense wins championships”

The Bengals entered the playoffs for the first time in well over a decade against rival Pittsburgh in the rubber game of their season series. While Cincinnati finished 6 th in the league in offense they were a dreadful 28 th in defense, while Pittsburgh entered this game ranked 4 th in the league on defense. The Steelers were installed as 3-point chalks and proved the old adage that “defense wins championships” with a 31-17 cover.