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After two weeks of NFL football, it's safe to say no one saw this kind of start coming for the 2015 season.
The New Orleans Saints, Baltimore Ravens, Indianapolis Colts, Philadelphia Eagles, Detroit Lions, and Seattle Seahawks are all 0-2 after suffering crushing losses in Week 2. All of those teams were getting top-10 love in various power rankings coming into the season. Actually, some idiot named Jason Marcum had the Seahawks, Colts, Eagles, Lions, and Ravens in his top 11.
Anyhow, all of those aforementioned teams are falling hard while teams like the Green Bay Packers and New England Patriots are staying put at the top. Yahoo Sports, has the Pack and Pats now at the top, with the Seahawks falling to No. 5.
That same ranking had the Bengals climbing all the way up to the No. 4 spot after their 24-19 win over the Chargers.
When you look at how the Raiders played in Week 1, then how they played in Week 2 ... and how the Chargers played in Week 1, then how they played in Week 2 ... have the Bengals taken a big leap this season and we haven't noticed yet?
The latest rankings from USA Today has the Packers and Patriots on top while the Bengals climbed up to No. 5, but with a hint of pessimism.
Summer is always a good time to invest in Cincinnati optimism. Uh oh, the calendar just turned...
Over at NFL.com, the Packers and Patriots grabbed the top two spots again while the Bengals ascended into the No. 4 ranking:
Say what you want about Andy Dalton, but he sure looked mighty fine Sunday in front of the home folk in Cincinnati. Perhaps the most underrated offseason development this year was the return to health of receiver Marvin Jones and tight end Tyler Eifert. Each have contributed heavily thus far, with Jones' reception of an on-target bomb from the Red Rifle being the highlight of the win over San Diego. 2-0
The lowest ranking the Bengals are getting is over at SB Nation. They did move Cincinnati up three spots following the Week 3 action, but their No. 8 ranking is the lowest any major outlet has for the Bengals. The highest ranking Cincy got was from Bleacher Report, who has them all the way at No. 3.
As for the Bengals' next opponent, the Baltimore Ravens have fallen as far as they've been since John Harbaugh became head coach in 2008. They're ranked as low as 22 and as high as 15 after losing to the Oakland Raiders last week.
Here's a roundup of all the current power rankings compared to last week.
SOURCE | LAST WEEK | CURRENT | CHANGE |
ESPN | 8 | 6 | 2 |
Yahoo! Sports | 8 | 4 | 4 |
NFL.com | 7 | 4 | 3 |
SB Nation | 11 | 8 | 3 |
USA Today | 7 | 5 | 2 |
B/R | 4 | 3 | 1 |
CBS Sports (Pete Prisco) | 5 | 5 | 0 |
AVG. | 7.14 | 5 | 2.14 |