The Bengals are back in good graves with the national media.
Though it won’t win any beauty pageants, the Cincinnati Bengals are coming off a bounce-back win over the New York Giants on Sunday Night Football. Cincy’s record is now 2-4 through the first month and a half of action.
After starting out 0-3 and having a few heart-breaking losses, the Bengals have some semblance of life. Cincinnati beat New York 17-7, which came on the back of a 41-38 overtime loss to the Baltimore Ravens in Week 5.
The Bengals will draw the Cleveland Browns in Week 7. They haven’t won in Cleveland since 2017.
Let’s dive into where the Bengals sit in the national media’s power rankings heading into the new week.
ESPN — No. 23 – Up from No. 24
There was only so much satisfaction in the locker room following Cincinnati’s win over the Giants. QB Joe Burrow acknowledged the offense didn’t play well enough on a day when the defense responded. Cincinnati is 14th in the league in point per drive differential at 0.32. Said Burrow after the game: “We’re trying to find ourselves, trying to find wins. We found one today, that’s great. But we know we have to be better going forward.” — Ben Baby
NFL.com — No. 22 – Up from No. 24
Even after earning win No. 2, the Bengals still have yet to turn in a complete performance in all three phases. The defense and special teams did their jobs well against the Giants, even if the offense took a step back. The biggest issue clearly was protecting Joe Burrow up front against a very good Giants defensive line. On the plus side, Burrow’s 47-yard TD run was a thing of beauty, Tee Higgins has regained his form, and Chase Brown continues stacking quality showings, although he was pretty quiet until the late touchdown. The Bengals are 2-4 with a plus-5 point differential against a schedule that has featured three strong opponents and three … less-strong ones. They probably need to win at least two out of their next three (at Browns, home vs. Eagles and home vs. Raiders) in order to feel OK about their chances to compete prior to the schedule stiffening.
CBS Sports — No. 22 – Up from No. 24
It wasn’t pretty against the Giants, but they found a way. The defense was better, which is a good sign going forward.
Sporting News — No. 19 – Up from No. 20
The Bengals just need to find ways to win to get back in AFC wild-card contention, and Joe Burrow did just that with his legs and arm vs. the Giants. The defense needed that, too, ahead of another favorable matchup vs. the Browns.
USA Today — No. 19 – Up from No. 20
An unwanted league-record streak of 75 straight games allowing at least double-digit points ended in Sunday night’s 17-7 victory over the Giants. Just imagine if Cincy finally puts a full 60 minutes together …
FOX Sports — No. 17 – Up from No. 20
To be clear, beating the Giants in a 17-7 slop fest was not an impressive win. Joe Burrow himself called it ugly. But the Bengals move up because they did get a victory when very few teams in the league’s middle class managed to win. And, more importantly, they staved off a 1-5 record that almost certainly would’ve ended their playoff hopes.
Sports Illustrated — No. 14 – Up from No. 18
The Bengals deserved to lose this game, and they remain the most absolutely puzzling team in the NFL. They were a field goal kicker away from being 1–5, but for magical slivers of the game, Joe Burrow still looks completely cool and unstoppable. I don’t know how one changes that. We hear Dak Prescott referencing noncompetitive practices in Dallas, for example. Is that what’s happening in Cincinnati, except the team can still sleepwalk its way into clutch plays? Do they just need a running back? Who knows.
Pro Football Talk — No. 22 – Up from No. 24
The defense is settling down. If only they could play the Giants’ offense every week.