14. Cincinnati Bengals
Last week: 9th
The outcome of Cincinnati’s Week 2 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars was arguably the most shocking out of any we saw, at least in the early window. Joe Burrow had to exit the game early (and is going to be out a handful of weeks, it sounds like) and backup Jake Browning threw three interceptions.
But the Bengals still won with a very timely 15-play drive that went 92 yards and was capped off with a one-yard run from Browning himself.
The key play on the drive was a defensive pass interference called on Jaguars star rookie Travis Hunter, giving the Bengals a conversion on fourth down and allowing them to stay on the field.
They’re not going to be able to win many more games with Browning throwing three picks like that, but Zac Taylor has long trusted him to operate that offense when needed and getting this win was absolutely huge.
13. Arizona Cardinals
Last week: 14th
For the past two weekends, the Arizona Cardinals have done a bit of flirting with disaster in games against the New Orleans Saints and Carolina Panthers. I’m sure you already noticed this, but the Saints and Panthers were already on this list a long time ago.
What does that mean?
Well, ultimately, it means nothing for the Cardinals to beat two of the teams that look like they might be among the worst in the NFL, because they’ve gotten off to a 2-0 start. Style points don’t matter in the NFL as long as you beat who’s in front of you. But let’s have the last two weekends be a bit of a warning for the talented Arizona Cardinals, that the more you play with fire, the more likely you are to get burned.
Week 3 will be a huge test as the Cardinals travel to San Francisco to take on the 49ers in a matchup of two undefeated NFC West teams. That division race is already getting spicy.