The Cincinnati Bengals' stock is trending down after losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers this past Sunday and falling to 2-1 on the season. However, NFL power rankings are way to rife with knee-jerk reactions this early in the schedule, so the Bengals' sharp slide isn't indicative that the sky is falling.
Is it the opposite of ideal to lose the AFC North opener, see the defense regress, and have to host the high-flying Jacksonville Jaguars' offense in Week 4? Yeah pretty much.
But Cincinnati should have hope that an emphatic bounce-back is on the way. A win versus the Jags would quickly wipe out the bad vibes from Pittsburgh. I'll explain why it's a highly realistic outcome in due time. First, we need to get into how low The Athletic just ranked the Bengals, along with where multiple other outlets had them.
Bengals draw polarizing results across multiple high-profile power rankings
Josh Kendall and Chad Graff of The New York Times' sports division do weekly power rankings. They're quite reputable overall, but dropping the Bengals from seventh to 15th seemed like a classic overcorrection. All their analysis was geared around quarterbacks. They discussed Joe Burrow and some of his basic stats, so it's not even really worth getting into.
ESPN wasn't quite as unkind in dropping Cincy to 12th, down from the more modest ninth-place showing they had after Week 2's rout of the Texans.
As for NFL.com, the Bengals' drop was less steep, from fifth to eighth. This was the best breakdown of the state of what's happening in Who Dey Nation by far:
"Cincinnati's hyped defense took a big reputation hit Sunday when it allowed Aaron Rodgers to turn back the clock and lead Pittsburgh -- the NFL’s second-worst scoring offense entering Week 3 -- to a 30-point performance and a one-score win over a division rival. It’s tough to pin down exactly where the Bengals stand after a loss like this, but I think we’ll learn plenty in this week’s cats-vs.-cats showdown with the Jaguars."
Why Cincinnati is being heavily undervalued in rankings overreaction
Look, I'm biased, but the Bengals should've won in Pittsburgh by double digits. They lost 30-27 while squandering a great Burrow performance and playing mostly terrible on defense.
But the real culprit fro Cincinnati's shocking defeat was special teams miscues. Cedric Johnson's 15-yard penalty on a misguided initiative to block a punt led to a Steelers touchdown. Ke'Shawn Williams muffed a punt to gift Pittsburgh a drive that started in the red zone and led to a field goal.
That's 10 points right there. And two possessions where Burrow and his offense should've had chances to build leads.
Sometimes it really is that simple. NFL.com had the Jaguars just ahead of the Bengals at No. 7 for Week 4. At both The Athletic and ESPN, Jacksonville ranked 10th.
Really? They lost to Bo Freaking Nix and the Broncos, who were a total bailout call against the Rams from being 1-2. And congrats for destroying the Patriots. Drake Maye may be the only worse big-name young QB in the AFC not named Bo Nix.
The Jags had no business losing in Denver. They let Nix dot them up late. And they got to face Deshaun Watson in Week 1.
You see what's going on here? Burrow is easily the most lethal QB Jacksonville will have faced so far this season.
And here's the thing: Even if the Bengals' defense is a bit overrated and gets lit up by the Jaguars' loaded offense, it's no time to hit the panic button. Cincinnati is virtually guaranteed to be 3-2 heading into the Week 6 bye after a get-right road trip to Miami. Losing to the Steelers will only make Dexter Lawrence and the D lock in even more.
The general NFL public will be all over the Jags beating the Bengals on Sunday. I was certain beyond any doubt that my team was about to beat the brakes off the Steelers, only to watch the defense and special teams lay an egg.
This is the National Football League. It's wildly unpredictable. Buckle up for Week 4. I have a feeling the Bengals will be coasting past the Jags in next week's power rankings.
Where the Bengals should rank entering Week 4
If it were up to me, yeah, the eighth-place spot is about right. But if you take the average of these three respected publications, Cincinnati is somewhere around the 11th or 12th range. That's more or less on the fringes of playoff contention.
It's unclear why the Bengals aren't considered clear favorites in the AFC North division ahead of the Ravens. I guess we'll settle that on the field in Week 7 at Baltimore.
Until then, again, if Sunday brings about a second straight loss, the easy Miami matchup, the early bye, and the opportunity to pull off a massive division victory thereafter still have Cincinnati in fine shape.
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