Cincinnati Bengals fans have yet to see the team really function at a high level for an entire game this season.
The team wasn’t functioning much at all in the Week 1 loss to New England. Then, the offense took things over, keeping pace with Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs before putting up 34 or more points in three straight games.
Then, Sunday night’s win featured just 17 points as the defense seemed to get back on track.
Imbalance is a theme in the latest power rankings from USA Today’s Nate Davis:
19. Cincinnati Bengals (20): An unwanted league-record streak of 75 straight games allowing at least double-digit points ended in Sunday night’s 17-7 victory over the Giants. Just imagine if Cincy finally puts a full 60 minutes together …
The hope for the Bengals has to be that the Giants were simply a bad matchup, which caused the offensive issues. They seem to be, given the elite defensive line.
And the other hope has to be that the defense is finally turning a corner now that some of the injured names like Sheldon Rankins are back healthy.
If it all comes together at once, the Bengals should string together some wins and move up the power rankings. More importantly, it might just keep them in the postseason conversation — but it needs to happen now.
