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The Cincinnati Bengals, despite a very sluggish start to the season, hit the bye week as a top-10 team in power rankings.
Those rankings come from USA Today’s Nate Davis, who stresses a very important point to keep in mind about the near-.500 start:
9. Bengals (9): For the second consecutive year, they go into the bye week at 5-4. Last season, they won eight of their next 11 on the way to Super Bowl 56.
Truthfully, the Bengals weren’t going to see a big boost in the rankings just because they trounced a bad Panthers team before the bye.
Far more interesting is whether the team can overcome droves of injury issues suffered by key names like Ja’Marr Chase and DJ Reader.
That, plus a tough-looking schedule that includes three more divisional games, plus dates with Tennessee, Kansas City and Buffalo, to name the big ones.
For now, even a rough-looking start to the season can’t keep a possible contender like the Bengals out of the top 10 — for now.
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