Now that Joe Burrow is reportedly out for the rest of the season with a wrist injury, the Cincinnati Bengals are sliding even further than they had in power rankings.
In a recent power rankings by Nate Davis at USA Today, he dropped the Bengals all the way down from 10th to 26th in the NFL, right behind the Green Bay Packers and ahead of the New York Jets. His reasoning was simple.
“All due respect to Jake Browning, but Cincinnati seems dead in the water without QB1 Joe Burrow,” he wrote.
There is some truth to that, Burrow is undoubtedly the centerpiece of the Bengals offense and it won’t be able to perform close to the level the ceiling of what he brings when he’s on his game, which he was for a four-week stretch when they started winning again.
However, there doesn’t seem to be any sign of giving up from the guys that are still healthy. They still have a .500 record, and while that is last in the AFC North, that doesn’t mean a Wild Card spot is unrealistic or out of reach.
For the rest of the division in Davis’ rankings, the Ravens are fourth, the Browns are 10th and the Steelers are 12th.