We are being punished in the power rankings due to success

[Bengalfan4life27c]

Many power rankings sites have us lower in the power rankings than they should. The reason these sites give is not due to talent or having a glaring weakness. The reason they give is due to our fluke success last year. That should not be relevant to our success this season if anything it would be a positive and not a negative.

[Soonerpeace]

ESPN #6 NFL.com #5 ProFootballTalk #8 PFF #7. Geez better than Vegas and the talking heads

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(06-02-2022, 05:06 PM)Bengalfan4life27c Wrote: Many power rankings sites have us lower in the power rankings than they should. The reason these sites give is not due to talent or having a glaring weakness. The reason they give is due to our fluke success last year. That should not be relevant to our success this season if anything it would be a positive and not a negative.

Yes, was arguing with Fred on this in another thread. Sure we had a lot of close games go late for us last year but so do a lot
of great teams like the Chiefs when they were the King of the AFC the last few years until we knocked them off. Those games 
were close cause we had such a crappy OL and if we didn't upgrade the OL sufficiently I could understand us being lower in the
power rankings. We upgraded the OL sufficiently IMHO.

Just need Carman or one of the other OL to come around at LG, other than that we are pretty much better everywhere except 
maybe DT since we lost Ogunjobi but even then Zach Carter could be the answer at backup 3-tech or we might even bring Larry
back for all we know when his foot is fully healed.

There are a couple other spots where I would like to add depth, WR and Guard for example but we are still way more solid than
we were in the Super Bowl where we barely lost.

[Johnny Cupcakes]

Meh. I don’t care what they are in the power rankings. The Bengals last season were pretty much unanimously picked to be a bottom five team….that ain’t how it ended though. I do think that this team will feed off of being underrated…Joey Burrow has pretty much stated that he’s been underrated his entire sports career, and look what he’s done with it. The team is an extension of him and they’ll feed off of that.

Besides….they’re #1 in the power rankings of my heart.

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(06-02-2022, 06:02 PM)Johnny Cupcakes Wrote: Meh. I don’t care what they are in the power rankings. The Bengals last season were pretty much unanimously picked to be a bottom five team….that ain’t how it ended though. I do think that this team will feed off of being underrated…Joey Burrow has pretty much stated that he’s been underrated his entire sports career, and look what he’s done with it. The team is an extension of him and they’ll feed off of that.

Besides….they’re #1 in the power rankings of my heart.

All true. Cannot argue with any of that Johnny C.

[*ochocincos*]

(06-02-2022, 06:01 PM)Soonerpeace Wrote: ESPN #6 NFL.com #5 ProFootballTalk #8 PFF #7. Geez better than Vegas and the talking heads

That doesn't seem like too low to me.
Without even looking, I'd imagine they have the following above:
- Bills
- Chiefs
- Bucs
- Rams
- Packers

Those teams all have their elite QBs still and have had more proven success over the past few years than the Bengals.

The ones where are more debatable are:
- Chargers (They always seem to flounder)
- Ravens
- Cowboys
- 49ers

I can't really see how anyone could have Bengals lower than Top 10 though.

[Soonerpeace]

(06-02-2022, 06:29 PM)ochocincos Wrote: That doesn't seem like too low to me.
Without even looking, I'd imagine they have the following above:
- Bills
- Chiefs
- Bucs
- Rams
- Packers

Those teams all have their elite QBs still and have had more proven success over the past few years than the Bengals.

The ones where are more debatable are:
- Chargers (They always seem to flounder)
- Ravens
- Cowboys
- 49ers

I can't really see how anyone could have Bengals lower than Top 10 though.

I don’t think it’s out of line. Rams aren’t much higher

[*ochocincos*]

(06-02-2022, 06:33 PM)Soonerpeace Wrote: I don’t think it’s out of line. Rams aren’t much higher

I know some want to anoint the Browns, Broncos, and Colts because they got new veteran QBs, but I have a hard time thinking the better QB will magically make them better than the Bengals.

Some might want to knock the Packers down a peg because of not having Adams, but Rodgers has shown to still be highly productive without a top-flight WR. They also drafted a WR in Rd 1. I still think that team will be good.

I also think Mahomes will be fine without Tyreek Hill. They added JJSS who is still a quality outside WR2 type, and they drafted Skyy Moore. Hardman, JJSS, Moore, and Kelce is still a hefty ensemble of pass catchers for Mahomes.

Rams added Allen Robinson, who IMO can be even better than OBJ.

[Interceptor]

Power rankings don't mean shit. It's all subjective and biased media hype.

[HarleyDog]

Injuries can change power rankings on a dime. Take advantage of the rankings while they're still low if your a bettor. If not, don't worry too much about it.

[Stewy]

Who cares? Why do you care? You shouldn't care.

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

(06-02-2022, 06:01 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: Yes, was arguing with Fred on this in another thread. Sure we had a lot of close games go late for us last year but so do a lot
of great teams like the Chiefs when they were the King of the AFC the last few years until we knocked them off. Those games 
were close cause we had such a crappy OL and if we didn't upgrade the OL sufficiently I could understand us being lower in the
power rankings. We upgraded the OL sufficiently IMHO.

Just need Carman or one of the other OL to come around at LG, other than that we are pretty much better everywhere except 
maybe DT since we lost Ogunjobi but even then Zach Carter could be the answer at backup 3-tech or we might even bring Larry
back for all we know when his foot is fully healed.

There are a couple other spots where I would like to add depth, WR and Guard for example but we are still way more solid than
we were in the Super Bowl where we barely lost.

We had a lot of close games not go our way in 2020. That was used against the staff when some of us saw the potential. Now it's being used against the team for winning those games, lol. It's like they can't win with some fans and most of the heads.

[*bengalfan74*]

(06-02-2022, 11:23 PM)Stewy Wrote: Who cares?  Why do you care?  You shouldn't care.

I don't care

I've always been of the opinion that power rankings in the pros is pretty much useless.

[Nicomo Cosca]

(06-02-2022, 06:41 PM)ochocincos Wrote: Some might want to knock the Packers down a peg because of not having Adams, but Rodgers has shown to still be highly productive without a top-flight WR. They also drafted a WR in Rd 1. I still think that team will be good.

No they didn’t. I personally fully expect to see them drop off a bit without Adams.

[CloeHokie]

These are so stupid. Last year ESPN Pre-Season Power Rankings had the Bengals at 28!!!!!!!!!!!! While Pitt was 11!!!!!!!! With that O line and limp gimp rapist at QB?! Lmao

[HarleyDog]

(06-02-2022, 06:02 PM)Johnny Cupcakes Wrote: Besides….they’re #1 in the power rankings of my heart.

[SunsetBengal]

(06-02-2022, 11:35 PM)Wyche Wrote: We had a lot of close games not go our way in 2020. That was used against the staff when some of us saw the potential. Now it's being used against the team for winning those games, lol. It's like they can't win with some fans and most of the heads.

What's that the commentators say?  "Good teams find a way to win those close games."

In other words, don't give Joe Burrow the final possession. (though we did come up short in the Superbowl)

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

(06-03-2022, 08:18 AM)SunsetBengal Wrote: What's that the commentators say?  "Good teams find a way to win those close games."

In other words, don't give Joe Burrow the final possession. (though we did come up short in the Superbowl)

That's exactly right.

[XenoMorph]

(06-02-2022, 05:06 PM)Bengalfan4life27c Wrote: Many power rankings sites have us lower in the power rankings than they should. The reason these sites give is not due to talent or having a glaring weakness. The reason they give is due to our fluke success last year. That should not be relevant to our success this season if anything it would be a positive and not a negative.

punished? its a ranking based on someones opinion? it doesnt hurt or help any team in any way.

[Soonerpeace]

(06-02-2022, 06:41 PM)ochocincos Wrote: I know some want to anoint the Browns, Broncos, and Colts because they got new veteran QBs, but I have a hard time thinking the better QB will magically make them better than the Bengals.

Some might want to knock the Packers down a peg because of not having Adams, but Rodgers has shown to still be highly productive without a top-flight WR. They also drafted a WR in Rd 1. I still think that team will be good.

I also think Mahomes will be fine without Tyreek Hill. They added JJSS who is still a quality outside WR2 type, and they drafted Skyy Moore. Hardman, JJSS, Moore, and Kelce is still a hefty ensemble of pass catchers for Mahomes.

Rams added Allen Robinson, who IMO can be even better than OBJ.

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