The Bengals took down a third of Circa's survivor pool by suffering NFL's largest Week 1 upset in years
The Cincinnati Bengals seemed like a safe bet to win their season opener against the New England Patriots.
With a 7.5-point spread at home, they were the largest favorites of Week 1. As such, they were a popular pick among survivor pool players for this week's openers.
In the popular Circa Sports survivor pool, the Bengals were picked by 4,895 people, making them the most-picked team by far at 34.3% of the more than 14,000 entries. Big mistake.
The Bengals played a putrid game and lost 16-10.
For fans who have been paying any attention over the years, they probably knew the Bengals were hardly a lock to win Week 1, as they annually get off to slow starts under Zac Taylor and Joe Burrow. Cincinnati lost its 2022 and 2023 openers too.
This one was a special kind of bad, though. It stands as the biggest Week 1 upset since 2018, according to Action Network's Evan Abrams.
Patriots cash the first half moneyline at +230 against the Bengals -- the biggest 1H moneyline upset in a Week 1 since 2019 pic.twitter.com/ruBz6zSUid
— Evan Abrams (@EvanHAbrams) September 8, 2024
On the bright side, the people who avoided the Bengals in their pools have a lot less competition remaining the rest of the year.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: The Bengals took down a third of Circa's survivor pool by suffering NFL's largest Week 1 upset in years
