It’s a battle of LSU Heisman Trophy winners for the second game of Monday night’s Monday Night Football doubleheader. Rookie Jayden Daniels will lead his 1-1 squad into Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati to take on Joe Burrow and the surprisingly 0-2 Cincinnati Bengals. Let’s take a look at this Commanders-Bengals preview.
The Commanders come into this game at 1-1 after a loss to the Buccaneers in Week 1. They rallied in Week 2 and took down their division rival New York Giants. Jayden Daniels has arguably looked like the best rookie quarterback so far through two games. He’s thrown for 184 and 226 yards respectively in each game. He hasn’t tossed a passing touchdown yet but also hasn’t thrown an interception. His legs have been very valuable as he has amassed 132 rushing yards and scored twice on the ground against Tampa Bay in Week 1.
Cincinnati has one of the more surprising records in the NFL through two weeks. They lost to the New England Patriots in a shocking Week 1 upset. In Week 2 they took the Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs all the way to the wire, losing on a field goal as time expired. The Bengals are notorious for starting the season slowly, and between players recovering from injury and holding out until the season it’s been another slow start. They showed promise last week against Kansas City, however.
NFL Week 3 Best Bets: The Player Prop Ladder
Washington Commanders at Cincinnati Bengals Preview and Predictions
Jayden Daniels 50 + Rushing Yards (-115)
As mentioned above, Daniels hasn’t been afraid to use his legs through the first two games. In Week 1 it was 88 rushing yards and two touchdowns on the ground. He followed it up with a 44-yard rushing performance in Week 2 against the Giants. So far in two games the Bengals have faced two quarterbacks who are less mobile than Daniels. In Week 1 Jacoby Brissett was still able to scramble for 32 yards on seven rush attempts. In Week 2 Patrick Mahomes carried the ball just four times but went for 29 yards. Daniels had 16 rushing attempts in Week 1 and 10 in Week 2. Even at half of those attempts, he should be able to get there, and I’d consider ladder betting Daniels rush yards up to 100+ at 11/1.
Game Total Over 46.5 (-112)
I’m fully expecting fireworks in this matchup. The two Heisman-winning quarterbacks from the same team are going to show up and ball out against each other. The Commanders have managed to score 20+ in both weeks despite last week being a seven-field goal game from a kicker who was on the streets leading up to the game. Cincinnati struggled in Week 1 against the Patriots but we’re going to chalk that up to them just not being ready for Week 1. In Week 2 they managed 25 against a tough Chiefs defense. This Washington defense isn’t quite as scary as Kansas City’s.
