Jacksonville Jaguars (1-0) @ Cincinnati Bengals (1-0)
Sunday, September 14, 1:00 PM ET
The Jacksonville Jaguars and Cincinnati Bengals are each looking to bounce back in a big way this coming season after missing the playoffs last year. The Jaguars obviously overhauled their front office and coaching staff, then got to work on the roster. And they didn’t inherit a bare bones group, as we saw in Week 1.
The Jaguars ran all over the Carolina Panthers to the tune of 200 yards. After an offseason of speculation over whether or not he would still be around this year or if he was on the trade block, Travis Etienne was outstanding with 143 rushing yards and 8.9 yards per carry.
If Jacksonville can get Trevor Lawrence back to form, they’re going to be a fun team to monitor this season. We didn’t even really see the full display of what Brian Thomas Jr. and Travis Hunter can do.
As ironic as it is, the Bengals opened the 2025 season in a defensive battle with…the Cleveland Browns? The Bengals getting into a low-scoring battle is already surprising enough based on how their offense and defense performed last year, but to see them struggle with the Browns, of all teams, was alarming.
Yes, it was just Week 1, but the Bengals are one of a wide variety of teams with a lot to clean up. Thankfully for them, their new-look defense, called by Al Golden, really stepped up in a tight game.
I think we’re going to see the Bengals come through this week being favored by 3.5 at home, but if that defense regresses to what we saw from them last year, the Jaguars have plenty of weapons to pull off a road upset.
Prediction: Bengals win 25-24