Donnie Rightside urged bettors to lay the 5.5 points with Cincinnati in the season opener at Cleveland. Rightside tied the recommendation to Zac Taylor’s stated plan to give Joe Burrow and the first-team offense extended run in all three preseason games, something Cincinnati has never done during Burrow’s tenure. He reminded listeners that teams starting 0-3 almost never make the postseason and the Bengals have dug that hole in three of the last four years, so the staff is determined to hit Week 1 in regular-season rhythm. Cincinnati, he noted, went 0-2 to open each of the past two seasons yet still finished 10-7 and 11-6; a healthier Burrow plus extra preseason reps should erase those slow-start woes. On the other sideline, Cleveland’s quarterback situation remains unsettled—Joe Flacco is 40, Kenny Pickett is learning the offense, and no one has taken a first-team snap with the starters yet—giving Cincinnati a preparation and continuity edge. Rightside acknowledged the Bengals were upset as a 7-point favorite in last year’s opener but sees that loss keeping the club laser-focused. His bottom-line advice: back Cincinnati ‑5.5 or look to tease them down, because he is confident they start 1-0 this time around.

Tyler Knaeble said Ja'Marr Chase is an easy smash at 1.01 in Underdog’s Eliminator because the Bengals open on the road against the Browns in warm September weather. He stressed that in this format Week 1 matters as much as Week 17— you advance only if you start 1-0— so targeting players in favorable opening-day environments is paramount. Knaeble noted Cincinnati–Cleveland projects as a competitive game without weather concerns, giving Chase immediate ceiling equity. With 23% exposure already in his portfolio, he still grabbed Chase, arguing that passing on the Bengals’ alpha would be “a sin” given the matchup and the need for early spike weeks.

Mike Wright recommended treating Jerry Jeudy as a one-week rental in season-long leagues. Cleveland opens against Cincinnati in a game he expects to turn into a 30-point shoot-out, forcing Jameis Winston (or whichever quarterback wins the job) to pepper Jeudy with targets the same way Winston did down the stretch last year. Wright pointed to Jeudy’s only fantasy-relevant season (WR21) coming on 146 targets and said a similar spike is possible in Week 1 because the Browns will be chasing Joe Burrow. After that, the schedule goes Ravens, Packers, Lions—three defenses he called "top-10 pass units"—and Cleveland could easily pivot to Kenny Pickett or even Joe Flacco if the offense sputters. Wright’s play: start Jeudy in Week 1, then immediately shop him while the box-score glow makes managers forget his career 8.2 and 6.6 PPR points per game in two of the last three seasons.

Chris Raybon said bettors should scoop up the Browns at +5.5 or +6 for Week 1 before the number tightens. He argued there is essentially no quarterback downside for Cleveland because the gap between Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett and Malik Gabriel is negligible, so any camp buzz around a clear starter can only help the line. On the Cincinnati side Raybon highlighted several red flags: Joe Burrow has averaged just 5.3 yards per attempt in Cleveland and owns a 1-9 straight-up record in Weeks 1-2 over his career, while the Trey Hendrickson contract standoff threatens the Bengals’ best pass-rusher. Divisional home underdogs cover at better than 60 % historically, and Raybon sees a herd mentality pushing this number down once those angles become mainstream, making early Browns tickets valuable CLV plays.