Monday NFL doubleheader betting preview: Teams looking for 1st wins

There are only three winless teams left in the NFL. Two of them will try to get in the win column in a “Monday Night Football” doubleheader.

The Jaguars (0-2) are 5½-point underdogs at Buffalo (2-0) in the 4:30 p.m. opener. The Bengals (0-2) are consensus 7½-point home favorites to get off the schneid against the Commanders (1-1) in the 5:15 p.m. second game.

“I love the Monday night doubleheaders. I just wish the games were staggered with a 4 o’clock start and a 7 o’clock start,” Red Rock Resort sportsbook director Chuck Esposito said. “Everything is going to be rolling over to the Bills and Bengals. We’re definitely going to be Jags and Commanders fans.”

Cincinnati, available at -7 at the South Point and -7½ (even) at the Westgate SuperBook, was upset by the Patriots as a 7½-point home favorite in its season opener before losing 26-25 at Kansas City as a 6½-point road underdog in Week 2. The Bengals are the biggest favorites of NFL Week 3, which has seen underdogs go 7-7 straight-up and against the spread.

“The public likes Joe Burrow,” Caesars Sportsbook head of U.S. trading Eric Fenstermaker said. “They don’t foresee the Bengals starting out 0-3.

“Just like most Mondays, we’ll need the ’dogs to hang around.”

The Bengals are the most popular pick in the Circa Survivor contest, which pays $14.3 million to the winner. The $1,000-entry Survivor has seen its record field slashed from 14,266 to 1,630 after 2,244 more entries were eliminated Sunday. Of the remaining entries, 988 are on Cincinnati.

Washington lost its opener 37-20 as a 4-point underdog at Tampa Bay before beating the Giants 21-18 as a 1½-point home favorite.

The total is 47. The Commanders are on an 8-2 over run, and the Bengals are on an 8-3 over uptick.

Jacksonville lost 20-17 to the Dolphins in their opener but covered as a 3½-point road underdog. It lost 18-13 to the Browns in Week 2 as a 3-point home favorite.

The Bills beat the Cardinals 34-28 in their opener but failed to cover as 6½-point home favorites. Buffalo blew out the Dolphins 31-10 in Miami on Sept. 12 as a 2½-point underdog. The Bills have crept up to -5½ after the line was at 5 late in the week. Both teams are available at -108 at the SuperBook.

The total is 45½. Jacksonville is on a 5-1 under run, and Buffalo is on a 10-5 under streak. The Jaguars have won and covered their last two games against the Bills, but both games were in London.

“We’re going to need both underdogs. There’s just not a lot of appeal to the Jaguars and Commanders,” Westgate SuperBook vice president Jay Kornegay said. “The ticket count and, most likely, the money is going to be lopsided toward the favorites.”