Cincinnati at Denver

We were on the Bengals last week as everyone lined up on the Browns. We saw how that turned out. Cincinnati still isn't getting respect as they get points against a Broncos team that looked awful on Monday night. The Bengals may have found motivation in the fact that all summer the pundits were declaring them amongst the worst team in the NFL. Sometimes that is a motivating factor, and sometimes it isn't the whole truth. Carson Palmer has departed and that was supposed to spell doom for an already struggling franchise. Cleveland was supposed to be the team on the rise, but the Bengals went on the road and carved out a 10-point win at the Dog Pound. Bruce Gradkowski and TCU star Andy Dalton managed the game mistake free and each threw for a TD with Dalton looking the better of the tandem. Kudos is also in order for a maligned defense that held Peyton Hillis to 57 yards on 17 carries. They now have a winnable game in Denver, and could the Bungles be 2-0 to start the season with both wins coming on the road? Yes! Cedric Benson ran all over the Browns, and after watching Denver's no-show defense get tagged for almost 200 yards last week, he certainly will find some room to run. The Broncos are in a bad spot. They couldn't run the ball last week (38 yards), and they couldn't stop the run. That is a recipe for disaster in the NFL. We saw it all last year and if Denver couldn't muster the will to revenge their embarrassing losses last season to the hated Raiders, why believe they can put up a fight here>? The Broncos have eaten many a paycheck as a favorite recently as they are 8-27-1 ATS in their last 36 in that role. John Fox is 7-20 ATS in his coaching career as a favorite of 3.5 to 7 points. Play on Cincinnati in this one.