The Bengals opened the season with a win over one of the toughest opponents on their 2026 schedule, and somehow that still wasn’t enough to move the needle much in Sports Illustrated’s latest power rankings.
Connor Orr slotted Cincinnati 13th in his Week 2 list, a six-spot drop from where he had them before the season. That’s a strange landing spot for a team that not only won its opener, but also beat Houston as betting underdogs. With ESPN’s NFL FPI rating the Bengals’ remaining 16 games as the easiest slate in the league, the low ranking stands out even more.
Orr didn’t offer much explanation for the fall. His lone comment on Cincinnati focused on a different part of the roster: "(Dexter) Lawrence was one of the best defensive tackles in true pass rush sets throughout the entire weekend. A major upgrade for Cincinnati," Orr wrote with no explanation for the drop.
The Bengals have now won back-to-back season openers for the first time this decade, yet they still seem to be fighting for respect in the power-ranking crowd. Given the result against Houston, a case can be made that Cincinnati should be sitting comfortably in the top 10 across the major rankings.
After the game, Al Golden acknowledged the temptation to get carried away by the fast start, but he made it clear the team is keeping its focus on the bigger picture.
"There would have been a balloon pop," Al Golden said about starting fast on Monday. "I get that part of it.
As coaches, we sign up for the long haul. We fought.
We battled. We did what we had to do.
A lot of things we need to correct. I need to do better in two-minute and third downs.
Multiple other things I need to do better at to put them in better positions. It’s exciting to play and host a quality team with the fans the way they were to end the game with the offense holding the ball and converting when they had to.
That’s huge for us. You wake up today and move on."
Cincinnati is already back on the practice field, turning its attention to what is being billed as the best game on the Week 2 slate. The Bengals are hoping to have Joe Burrow back from a back issue and Shemar Stewart available after a knee injury as they prepare for the next challenge.
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