Rams vs. Bengals Week 3 Odds: Joe Burrow Injury Concerns Shift Spread for Monday Night Football

The Rams' spread sat at +6.5 for next week's Monday Night Football tilt against the Bengals at roughly 7 a.m. today. Then, bettors hammered that down to a consensus +1.5 over the course of the next few hours.

The Bengals' moneyline, meanwhile, slipped from as long as -285 to its current mark of -130.

That's on account of Joe Burrow's calf injury, which was aggravated during a loss to the Ravens in Week 2. Burrow originally injured the calf during preseason, forcing him to miss all of training camp and preseason.

The highest-paid player in the history of the NFL hasn't looked like himself through the season's first two weeks anyway, which has further compounded his team's issues in the marketplace.

Burrow ranks fourth from bottom out of all starting quarterbacks in Expected Points Added + Completion Percentage Over Expected, a ranking metric for all QBs and a typical predictor for the NFL MVP market. Even if he does play, the sharps loved the Rams at +6.5 this morning amid Burrow's struggles.

It's been trouble on both sides of the ball for Cincinnati, though. The Bengals rank in the bottom four in offensive and defensive EPA per play. And while the Rams rank below average defensively, their offense has surprised to a top-10 mark through the start of the season.

The Bengals' Super Bowl odds have fallen profoundly in conjunction with their horrible play.

According to DVOA, the Bengals' odds to win the Super Bowl have tanked to 17th-best in the NFL at just 0.6%. That mark is lower than the Steelers (0.8%), Commanders (0.9%), Packers (2.5%) and Browns (7.6%), among plenty of others.

Before Week 2 and Burrow's calf aggravation, the Bengals had been as long as -340 on the moneyline and -7.5 on the spread for next Monday's Super Bowl LVI rematch against the Rams, who rated poorly before the start of the season. But buoyed by positive offensive play, the Rams look poised to outperform expectations.