There aren’t many positives for the Cincinnati Bengals to take out of the Week 2 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.
But if there’s a minimal silver lining worth looking at, it’s that the AFC North might just be able to save the Bengals from the horrific history of teams that start 0-2.
A look at the standings after two weeks:
- Steelers: 1-1
- Ravens: 1-1
- Browns: 1-1
- Bengals: 0-2
The Bengals don’t want to be winless and last, of course. But the nature of how the rest of the AFC North has lost games is encouraging.
Take the Steelers, a team the Bengals would’ve beat in Week 1 were it not for a long-snapper injury. The Patriots beat the Steelers in 17-14 fashion via late dominance.
In Week 2, those Ravens gave away a 21-point advantage to lose to Miami, 42-38. And the Browns, a team without a starting quarterback for half the season, coughed up a two-touchdown lead to lose a heartbreaker to a bad Jets team on a last-second touchdown pass.
The Bengals have ruined two chances to get wins against beatable teams and the rest of the schedule is tough. But the rest of the AFC North isn’t doing so hot, either, and winning the division is still very much in play.
