Cincinnati Bengals vs Minnesota Vikings Pick – 9/21/2025
The Cincinnati Bengals will visit the Minnesota Vikings in Week 3 of the NFL season. The quarterback position will be under the spotlight even more than usual in this game thanks to the youth of the Vikings at that position and injury concerns for the Bengals. Here, I break down this matchup from Minneapolis and give you my Bengals vs Vikings prediction for Week 3 of the season.
Our Bengals vs Vikings Pick
- Pick: Under 42.5
- Confidence: 3/5
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Game Snapshot
- Matchup: Cincinnati Bengals vs Minnesota Vikings
- Date & Time: Sunday, September 21, 2025, 1:00 PM ET
- Venue: U.S. Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, MN
- Broadcast: CBS
Key Storylines
- The top storyline going into this game is the status of Joe Burrow. Burrow suffered a toe injury in Cincinnati’s Week 2 matchup with the Jacksonville Jaguars. If Burrow is unavailable or compromised, it could do significant damage to the Bengals’ hopes of competing for a title this year.
- Minnesota dropped to 1-1 on the season after losing 22-6 to the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday Night Football in Week 2. JJ McCarthy struggled to get things going in that game and the Vikings will need to find a way to make things easier on their rookie quarterback in this game.
- Cincinnati is 2-0 to start the year after wins against the Jaguars and Browns. But their season will look a lot different in a hurry if Burrow is not healthy.
Quarterback Play
Joe Burrow is listed as doubtful for this game for the Bengals due to his toe injury. We could see Jake Browning in his place after Browning stepped in for Burrow in Week 2. Browning threw two touchdown passes and three interceptions in relief against the Jags. He will have a full week to prepare for this game and that could help him immensely leading into Week 3.
JJ McCarthy has 301 passing yards through two games for Minnesota. He has two touchdown passes and three interceptions. None of that is good enough and McCarthy will need to do more if the Vikings are going to come close to the level they played at a season ago.
Betting Trends & H2H
- Both of these teams are 1-1 against the spread going into Week 3.
- These teams are also 1-1 in the over/under market heading into this contest.
- The Vikings are 6-0 all-time at home against the Bengals.
Bengals vs Vikings Model Projection
Score Projection: Bengals 17 – Vikings 24
Win Probability: Bengals 45%, Vikings 55%
Final Thoughts
I don’t have a lot of faith in either quarterback going into this game, assuming it is Browning and not Burrow under center for Cincinnati. McCarthy has also had a hard time early in the season and I see that continuing against a Bengals team that can get pressure on opposing quarterbacks, even if they can’t do much else on defense. I’ll take the under in what should be an ugly game in Minnesota.
