We are being punished in the power rankings due to success

[*ochocincos*]

(06-03-2022, 09:14 AM)Soonerpeace Wrote: The Packers won’t be as good w/o Adams. KC won’t be as good w/o Hill. The Rams won’t be as good w/o Miller. The Bills are as good. The Chargers are better for sure. The Broncos are better. The Raiders are better. Tampa isn’t better for sure w/o Arians and revamped OL. The Ravens are a mystery. They had a great draft but some felt they drafted best available too much. I’m not sure that they won’t be the most improved in 2023 not 2022. I think they don’t have a deep thread. I also think they try to protect Lamar more. It’s going to take away his spontaneity. They are going to try to run the ball more. We are pretty good in rush defense.

Bottom line I don’t see where the top teams really improved except the Bengals. Vegas predicts a lot more 5-6-7 loss teams amongst the division winners. There’s going to be a ton of parity this year. I look for us to scheme well on both offense and defense out the gate. I look for some tough losses in the middle but finish strong. I’m still predicting 11-6. There won’t be but 3 teams with 12 or more wins

Well there were 6 teams last year who had 12+ wins, and all those teams still have their starting QB from the year(s) before.
I don't think the Bengals improved THAT much just by adding a few OL. The draft picks are all set to be backups/rotational players this year. No starters (unless Bates doesn't play). MAYBE CTB beats out Apple for outside CB duties, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him as a depth guy as a rookie to not rush him into such a big role.
I do think 11-6 is realistic, for sure.

The only teams I would consider putting ahead of the Bengals right now are teams who have gotten to the playoffs the past 2+ years in a row and have had at least one playoff win in that span:
- Bucs
- Packers
- Rams
- Chiefs
- Bills

I agree with you that losing Hill and Adams could impact those teams to some extent, but I don't think it will be night and day difference.
I'm not necessarily saying all the teams above are even better than the Bengals right now, but they're the safer picks because they've had longer success. Bengals are more risky because of how terrible they were for the previous 5 seasons where they didn't even have a winning season.
Are the Bengals true perennial contenders or are they going to be more like the 2020 Browns where they had a great one season but then floundered the next?
I think the Bengals will get to double-digit wins again and make the playoffs, but I can understand why some are even more "wait and see" to even say that.