NFL Week 6 Power Rankings Roundup

The Green Bay Packers and their travel-heavy fans came to Paul Brown Stadium. It was a raucous crowd for the 3-1 Cincinnati Bengals.

However, after multiple missed field goals by Evan McPherson to win the game, the Bengals ended up falling to 3-2. McPherson missed both a 57-yard field goal and a 49-yard field goal, the latter of which the rookie from Florida thought he drilled.

That said, while the Bengals were absolutely lit up by superstar receiver Davante Adams, their own stud, Ja’Marr Chase, went off, helping alleviate some pressure off second-year QB Joe Burrow.

In overtime, the Bengals lost 25-22. It was a thrilling game at PBS which almost helped the team’s cause. They proved that they can hang with a top-tier contender. They went punch-for-punch with the league’s reigning MVP.

With that in mind, let’s see if that the impression made to national media as well.

ESPN — No. 14 - Previously No. 16

How they’ve improved: The second-year linebacker has stepped into the team’s starting linebacker role well. He has a team-high 46 tackles and three of the team’s four interceptions. After primarily being a backup last season, Cincinnati’s 2020 third-round pick has displayed some quality moments through the first five games and earned praise from many of his teammates. “He’s a really disciplined player,” Bengals defensive tackle D.J. Reader said. “I’m really happy a lot of people see that.” — Ben Baby

NFL.com — No. 13 - Previously No. 15

Evan McPherson’s NFL career is off to a promising start, but he’ll have to do some special things to escape being remembered as The Kicker Who Celebrated Too Soon. The rookie’s overtime field-goal attempt against the Packers started straight before veering left and making contact with the flapping orange flag blowing atop the left upright. McPherson thought he’d converted his third game-winning kick in five professional contests, but instead it was a miss that set up an eventual 25-22 loss. McPherson later said he thought the officials were “playing a game” with him. That would have been a pretty mean-spirited prank, to be honest.

CBS Sports — No. 16 - Previously No. 13

They showed well against the Packers and had a real chance to win it. Now comes a trap game in Detroit with the Ravens awaiting them in Week 7.

The Ringer — No. 11

Bleacher Report — No. 11 - Previously No. 14

That the Cincinnati Bengals squandered an opportunity for a true statement win Sunday against the Green Bay Packers was surely a major disappointment for the team. However, not long after the final gun sounded, something happened that made the team forget all about that.

Sports Illustrated — No. 10

Joe Burrow keeps raising the ceiling for this group. Now, they just have to be able to keep him healthy.

Yahoo! Sports — No. 15 - Previously No. 17

The loss wasn’t fun, but the Bengals have a true star in Ja’Marr Chase. He put up an impressive 6-159-1 line on Sunday and has played well in every game. Guess those preseason stories freaking out about his drops were premature.

Sporting News — No. 11 - Previously No. 14

The Bengals were right there with the Packers and blew a few more chances to win in the best battle of Week 5. They’re not going away from AFC North relevance in the playoff picture, assuming Joe Burrow is OK from his injury scare.

NBC Sports — No. 11

The Bengals went toe-to-toe with the Packers and learned a valuable lesson – never kick.