14. Carolina Panthers (2-2)
Give it up for the Carolina Panthers - they proved me wrong. Through four weeks, while the 2-2 record is not all that impressive, the way this team has played and developed on offense, especially with all the injuries, is very impressive.
Bryce Young continues to look like a franchise QB, and since the start of the 2025 season, he’s thrown 32 touchdown passes against 13 interceptions in those 20 games. Carolina is just 10-10 over his last 20 starts, but the growth from Young is impressive.
It’s now year four for the player, and he seems to be in a great spot. Young was a late-bloomer, as he struggled those first two years, but a lot of this comes down to getting the right coaching in place, which is something the Panthers seem to have.
They will need to string some wins together in the coming weeks to truly cement themselves as a legitimate squad, as they can’t keep going back and forth with wins and losses like this, but for the time being, Carolina is in solid standing in our updated NFL power rankings.
13. Cincinnati Bengals (2-2)
What do we do with the Cincinnati Bengals? This team looked quite good across the first two weeks of the season, but after two losses in a row, Cincy is now 2-2 and just do not feel like a threatening team right now. Joe Burrow also struggled a bit in this one. He ended up attempting a whopping 54 passes but did throw two interceptions, including one in the red zone, which is less than ideal.
When the Bengals drop a game like this against another formidable team, it always kind of feels like they’re at a coaching disadvantage, which continues to be part of the problem. Zac Taylor is fine, yes, but when has he ever established himself as anything more than an average head coach in this league?
Maybe I’m reaching here, but that’s the feeling I typically get in a game like this. On the bright side, I am not sure there is a single team in the AFC that feels like a genuine contender from top to bottom, so the Bengals aren’t out in ‘la-la land’ or anything. Now sitting at 2-2, they do have some winnable games coming up over the next handful of weeks against teams like Miami, Tennessee, and Atlanta, so they could go on a little bit of a run here.
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