The Bengals are in the midst of a rare two-game losing streak, which has them dropping in the latest round of NFL power rankings.
Over at ESPN, the Bengals have fallen down to the No. 13 spot following their loss to the Broncos, who came in at No. 1 in this ranking.
The Bengals have converted only three of their 10 red zone drives into touchdowns this season, and could desperately use Tyler Eifert or another red zone threat. Lucky for Cincinnati they get to host the Dolphins in Week 4 on a short week, which could mask any of their bigger problems for the time being.
At USA Today Sports, The Bengals fell all the way to the No. 14 spot, but say not all hope is lost.
Reasons for optimism -- they finally got the running game going Sunday, and TE Tyler Eifert's return seems imminent.
They also forgot to mention Vontaze Burfict is returning from his three-game suspension, and I think you could make a good argument that he makes a bigger impact on the defense than Eifert does on the offense.
No. 14 is also where the Bengals fell to in NFL.com’s latest power ranking, who points out Cincinnati could very easily be 0-3 right now if not for their Week 1 comeback win in New York.
For a team that has made it to the postseason in five consecutive seasons, the Bengals sure didn't look impressive in their home opener. Granted, there is a reason the Broncos are the defending Super Bowl champions ... but letting Trevor Siemian throw for four touchdowns?
Like any game, a few key plays painted ugly stripes on this contest for Cincinnati, such as Adam Jones' fumble. Yet, the case could be made that Marvin Lewis' outfit should've lost Week 1 in New York.
CBS Sports knocked the Bengals down to the No. 15 spot, making note of the difficult early-season schedule starting to get a little easier with the Dolphins on deck.
Their three-game schedule has been a tough one. It gets a little softer against the Dolphins on Thursday.
Yahoo was among the friendliest of all the rankings, as they only dropped Cincinnati to the No. 11 spot, but their review of Cincinnati was anything but friendly.
Let’s assume the Bengals have a good defense. There are many talented players on that side of the ball. But they allowed Trevor Siemian to become the first quarterback to have 300 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions in his first career road start. That’s troubling.
SB Nation was also kind to the Bengals by dropping them only a few spots to the No. 8 ranking.
In all, the Bengals received an average ranking of 12.5 this week. That is slightly down from the 8.8 average ranking last week and the 6.5 average the week prior. You really can’t argue over the ranking at this point, especially since the NFL landscape and this Bengals team, in general, is still coming into focus.
You could argue the Bengals are still a stop six or seven team once Burfict and Eifert get back, especially with how close those two losses really were for Cincinnati. I think it’s safe to think the Bengals could easily be 3-0 and one of the top teams in the NFL if both Eifert and Burfict had played.
Alas, the Bengals better beat the Dolphins this week if they hope to accomplish anything this season. Miami is ranked in the 20s in every power ranking this week and are as low as 28 by Yahoo. Their highest ranking is 21 by SB Nation.
If Cincinnati can’t beat this team at home, this quickly could turn into a lost season for a once-promising team.