Stat of the Jay: Uncovering the Bengals' Unique Historical Dominance of Franchise That Just Won the Super Bowl

Jay Morrison | Mar 25, 2025

Sep 27, 2020; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (9) looks for a receiver in the end zone against the Philadelphia Eagles during the first quarter at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images / Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

CINCINNATI – As is the case with most teams, the Cincinnati Bengals – and their fans – should be looking at the Philadelphia Eagles and their scheme, roster building and cap management as a model for winning a Super Bowl.

The Eagles were the only team to beat the Bengals by more than seven points last season.

That 37-17 triumph at Paycor Stadium was notable for a couple of reasons.

First, it marked the first time Philadelphia had ever beaten the Bengals in six visits to Cincinnati.

But it also marked another first – and it’s staggering.

Let’s back up to the genesis of today’s Stat of the Jay.

After looking at NCAA Tournament betting lines all weekend, it got me wondering which teams the Bengals have the best and worst winning percentages against in terms of the covering the point spread.

Because Las Vegas is so good at setting those lines, and because 57 seasons of games is plenty of time for trends to even out, I figured the Bengals would be close to .500 ATS against most of the teams in the league.

Not so.

So not so.

Before last year, the Bengals had covered a perfect 14 of 14 games against the Eagles.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that’s an NFL record.

It took a long time to build a spread sheet and sort through 57 seasons of games, so I don’t have the bandwidth to do it for each of the other 31 teams in the league.

But it’s pretty safe to say .933 is the best cover percentage of any franchise against another specific franchise.

Obviously volume plays a role here, as the Bengals’ top six winning percentages are against NFC teams, whom they don’t face that often.

Here are Cincinnati’s next best cover percentages behind the Eagles.

Giants 9-3 (.750)

Lions 9-4-1 (.679)

Falcons 9-5-1 (.633)

Bears 7-4-1 (.625)

Seahawks (.619)

And at the other end of the spectrum, the Bengals have the worst cover percentage against the NFC’s Commanders at 4-8 (.333)

But the rest of the bottom five features four AFC teams:

Dolphins 9-16 (.360)

Colts 12-18-1 (.403)

Steelers 45-63-1 (.417)

Bills 13-18 (.419).

As you can see by those other top-five and bottom-five “extremes,” 14-1 is a crazy outlier.

Here’s a look at each point spread and result in Bengals-Eagles history:

1971: Bengals favored by 9.5, win 37-14

1975: Bengals favored by 6, win 31-0

1979: Bengals favored by 3, win 37-13

1982: Bengals underdogs by 1, win 18-14

1988: Bengals underdogs by 5, win 28-24

1991: Bengals underdogs by 11, lose 17-10

1994: Bengals pick ’em, win 33-30

1997: Bengals underdogs by 5, lose 44-42

2000: Bengals underdogs by 10.5, lost 16-7

2005: Bengals favored by 4, win 38-10

2008: Bengals underdogs by 9, tie 13-13

2012: Bengals favored by 5, win 34-13

2016: Bengals favored by 2, win 32-14

2020: Bengals underdogs by 5.5, tie 23-23

2024: Bengals favored by 2.5, lose 37-17

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