Bengals showing slight signs of life has betting markets projecting closer game on Thursday night against Steelers

The Cincinnati Bengals have left Lambeau Field with a nine-point loss to the Green Bay Packers, but they did cover the spread for the first time in four weeks.

Green Bay was a 14.5-point favorite on Sunday, and Joe Flacco's two touchdowns in the second half made the game somewhat close in the end. 14.5 points is large point spread for any NFL matchup, and the opening line for Cincinnati's next game is a lot more reasonable.

Bengals open as underdogs to Steelers for NFL Week 7

The opening line for the Bengals’ Week 7 matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers is 5.5 points, with Cincy being the underdog. The Bengals have been underdogs every single week since Joe Burrow suffered turf toe in Week 2.

This is just the third home game of Cincinnati's season. The Bengals defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars, 31-27, in Week 2 thanks to Jake Browning catching fire off the bench. Browning lost his last of three starts in home game No. 2 to the Detroit Lions, 37-24, in Week 6.

Cincinnati was a three-point favorite over Jacksonville and a 10.5-point underdog to Detroit. 5.5 points is pretty close to being in the middle of those lines with the Steelers coming to town on short notice.

Expectations were drastically low for the Bengals this past week, especially with Flacco coming in during the middle of the week to start. His first two quarters didn't inspire much confidence, but he did finish with 219 yards and two touchdowns without throwing any interceptions. Making the contest a competitive one in the final quarter seems to have made an impact on how the market views their next game.

Thursday will be Cincinnati's second of four primetime games this year, and the only one at Paycor Stadium. It will also be just the second time in the Zac Taylor era the Bengals will be home underdogs for a primetime game. The only other occasion was in 2020 when Cincinnati defeated Pittsburgh, 27-17, as 14.5-point underdogs.

The Bengals will be looking to win another upset to kickstart Week 7.