The Cincinnati Bengals were on a collision course to have a top-five pick in the upcoming NFL Draft in the midst of their recent four-game losing streak. However, Joe Flacco gave a shot of hope to Who Dey Nation and put the Bengals right back in the playoff mix in a Week 7 victory.
Joe Burrow was on hand for last Thursday's win over the Steelers, which pushed Cincinnati to 2-0 in the AFC North. having the head-to-head dub on Pittsburgh has huge postseason implications. Burrow has to be licking his chops to get back by mid-December given how the AFC is playing out.
But where do the Bengals stand exactly? That's what all the fun of NFL power rankings is for.
Bengals check in at a respectable 9th in AFC power rankings for Week 8
Sayre Bedinger of FanSided's NFL Spin Zone released some fresh NFL power rankings with a particular focus on the AFC's 16 teams. Nobody would've had the Bengals much better than 13th prior to the breakthrough win against the Steelers, but here's what my Slack chat pal had to say:
"Joe Flacco has jolted the Cincinnati Bengals back to life. Who would have thought? The Bengals simply needed a guy named 'Joe' back under center, and all is well, apparently. Flacco completed 86 slant routes against the Steelers and did what any reasonably good veteran quarterback should do. Let the receivers make plays. I don't know what the ceiling is on the Bengals the rest of the way, but they're still in the mix."
Cue the Paul Rudd/Sean Evans Hot Ones meme indeed. Who would have thought? Not me!
I wrote at length yesterday about how weird it feels to root for Flacco, the longtime Baltimore Ravens quarterback who even guided the Browns to a playoff berth a couple seasons ago.
Who knew that he was so well-spoken, thoughtful, and dynamic as a personality? Starting to think Flacco could pull an Eli Manning. Lead a high-caliber franchise to a Super Bowl. Remain rather quiet while doing so. Let your freak flag fly as a sports media personality once you hit retirement.
But good news for Cincinnati, Flacco ain't done yet. Far from it, or so it would seem, given that he just lit up the Steelers for 342 yards through the air. As long as the Bengals' embattled offensive line can protect Joe Cool, he has a lot of pop in that rocket right arm of his to deliver the ball to Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and his not-inconsiderable cast of skill position players.
OK I'll stop crushing on Flacco for a second. As far as playoffs and AFC hierarchy go, Week 7 was massive. The Bengals have a tiebreaker win over Jacksonville from Week 2, and the Jags got walloped by the Rams 35-7 in London.
Additionally, the Los Angeles Chargers are banged up, regressing on defense, and are only one game ahead of Cincinnati in the standings. We'll see how they fare against the Vikings Thursday eve.
The Bolts have much tougher Week 8 assignment than the Bengals' duel versus the 0-7 New York Jets. Apparently, Gang Green will have a quarterback start for them. Breaking news!
Us Cincinnati faithful can only pray that the forces of the universe spare us from any other major injuries. Have we not endured enough with Joe Burrow? Leave us alone. Let us be mostly healthy and make a run with The Other Joe.