NFL Power Rankings, Week 14: Patriots keep rising, Eagles near rock-bottom

Some of us had this game circled on the calendar as a potentially exciting contest as it should have been Joe Burrow vs. Tua Tagovailoa as the Cincinnati Bengals were in Miami for a game against the Dolphins. Sadly, Burrow is out following a terrible knee injury, and the Bengals were again starting Brandon Allen.

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He too suffered an injury in this one as he was hit repeatedly due to the Bengals rough offensive line. A chest injury sent Allen to the locker room after he was sacked five times and he gave way to Ryan Finley. While Finley wasn’t sacked as much as Allen, he struggled to move the ball, gaining just 40 yards on seven pass attempts and throwing a pick.

It was a rough performance for each of the quarterbacks as they again proved to be quite the drop-off from Burrow. They also didn’t get much help from the ground game as the Bengals managed just 30 yards from Gio Bernard and seven from Samaje Perine.

Now at 2-9-1 (and 0-6-1 on the road), Cincinnati is probably better off dropping a few games and getting a better draft pick. They need to improve this offensive line if they hope to get better any time soon.