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Much like the play of Andy Dalton and the Bengals defense, the Bengals are earning respect in the minds of the masses. Winning on the road in the NFL is hard. It only makes sense that winning consecutively on the road would be harder. The Bengals have responded well during the first two stops of their Southern U.S. road trip. In the eyes of the great Power Ranking Wizards across the net, this is showing in their standings.
The highest rank the Bengals were given in the sites we follow was a 7. The homer in me can 100% agree with this assessment, but the devil on my shoulder continues to remind me of the Bengals' 3 losses. It is not that there are three blemishes on the record, it is the way the Bengals lost. When they are hot, they rival any team in the NFL. When they are cold, they would be hard pressed to top the Jaguars.
The Bengals have a chance to wrap up a difficult stretch of road games this weekend when they travel to the mid 70 degree temperatures in Tampa Bay. Then the meat and potatoes of the rest of the schedule happens and it is a dogfight to the post season.
PUBLICATION | Current | Last Week | Change |
ESPN | 10 | 13 | +3 |
Fox Sports | 12 | 14 | +2 |
USA Today | 10 | 12 | +2 |
CBS Sports | 7 | 9 | +2 |
NFL.com | 10 | 11 | +1 |
SB Nation | 10 | 10 | +0 |
9.8 | 11.5 |
+1.7 |
Keep the positive thinking rolling forward and let's watch the Bengals complete the hat trick on this road trip.