Micah Parsons is buying into the Bengals as an AFC heavyweight.
The Green Bay Packers star said on his Bleacher Report show that Cincinnati is the team he expects to finish with the conference’s first-round bye. That pick comes on the heels of a statement win Sunday, when the Bengals moved to 4-2 by storming back from a 13-0 halftime hole to beat the Baltimore Ravens 35-13.
“I’m gonna say Bengals,” Parsons said in the clip. “I think they’ve been pretty much the most consistent.”
Parsons pointed to the way Cincinnati’s offense has spread the production around, especially with Tee Higgins making noise alongside Ja’Marr Chase.
"Ja’Marr’s numbers may not be high. It’s because Tee’s been snapping,” Parsons said.
Higgins backed that up in Baltimore with six catches for 148 yards and a touchdown. Chase added five receptions for 62 yards and a score, while Joe Burrow piled up 292 passing yards and four touchdown passes.
Burrow did most of his damage after the break, when he completed 16 of 18 throws for 249 yards. That sharp second-half work helped Cincinnati flip the game on the road against a division opponent and turn a double-digit deficit into a runaway.
Parsons also singled out the Bengals’ defense, which came up with four sacks and didn’t allow Baltimore to score after halftime.
“The Bengal defense is playing great,” Parsons said. “It’s not the same Bengals.
It’s not the same. I think they low-key win the division.”
Cincinnati’s pass rush has been a steady force so far, with 21 sacks through six games. The Bengals have recorded multiple sacks in every game and at least four sacks in four of those contests.
That kind of pressure gives the Bengals another path to control games even when the offense starts slowly. Against Baltimore, the defense kept things close enough for Burrow and the receivers to take over.
There is still work to be done, though. If Cincinnati wants to stay in the hunt for the AFC’s top seed, it will need cleaner starts and more complete performances, because even this group is not going to need five touchdown drives after halftime every week.
Next up is a Week 8 home game against the Tennessee Titans at Paycor Stadium. A win would push Cincinnati to 5-2 and give the Bengals more momentum after their comeback in Baltimore.
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Jessie Bates Just Reopened A Painful Bengals What-If
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Even so, the safety did not sound like someone who had fully closed the door on what might have been. He admitted the idea of staying in Cincinnati still crosses his mind, and it lands at a time when the Bengals are still trying to stabilize the back end of their defense after moving on from him, with Bryan Cook brought in to help at safety. [Read more 🡒]