After a huge victory against the then-undefeated New England Patriots, many analysts, fans, and sports betters marked down this Cincinnati Bengals match up as a “trap game.” A trap game means that the heavily favored team, in this case, the Baltimore Ravens, will either lose or fail to cover the point spread necessary to satisfy Las Vegas oddsmakers. It would have made some sense if the Ravens had traveled to Cincinnati in a slightly complacent manner, given the drastic decrease in the opponent’s strength compared to New England.
The now 0-9 Bengals, Baltimore’s AFC North rivals, would have loved nothing more than to get their first win in a divisional matchup in front of their home fans.