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Where Bengals, Falcons sit in NFL power rankings before Madrid game
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- Where Bengals, Falcons sit in NFL power rankings before Madrid game
The Cincinnati Bengals head into Week 9 at 5-2 with an international showcase game against the Atlanta Falcons on Nov. 8 in Madrid. Cincinnati (5-2) is coming off an overtime win over the Tennessee Titans and Atlanta (3-5) is coming off a loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers .
The Bengals are 3-point favorites and the over/under point total for the international game is 46, according to BetMGM.
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Neither team has been ranked in the top of the NFL power rankings this season, but the Bengals are coming off their best offensive performance of the season, which saw quarterback Joe Burrow have his first six-touchdown game in his career.
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See where the Bengals and Falcons rank in NFL power rankings.
Bengals and Falcons in NFL power rankings ahead of Week 9
USA TODAY Sports NFL writer Nate Davis has the Bengals at No. 14 , which is up from 17 last week. Writes Davis: "A 5-2 start is their best since 2021, one that led them to Super Bowl 56. But Sunday's 43-36 overtime defeat of the Titans sure evoked troubling memories of the post-2021 Bengals."
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Davis has the Falcons at No. 18. Here's what Davis said about Atlanta: "QB Michael Penix Jr. and Co. looked every bit a dome team during Sunday's loss in a Tampa monsoon. Certainly an incentive to nail down the home playoff game an NFC South title would confer."
SI.com senior writer Connor Orr has the Bengals at No. 10 , which is one spot down this week. Writes Orr: "We need to start appreciating the games where Tee Higgins and Ja'Marr Chase go for roughly 300 combined yards, three touchdowns and 30 targets. This troika (including Joe Burrow) may never be at full strength again, but once every few months we get the absolute juggernaut game we deserve."
Here's what Orr had to say about the Falcons' (No. 19) loss in Tampa: "If there was any game to let Bijan Robinson sit in Wildcat this was it, right? Todd Bowles's stubbornness and conservatism proved to be the right play in ridiculous conditions, while Atlanta missed an opportunity to let Robinson have a defining afternoon piloting the offense."
ESPN has the Bengals at No. 10 and Falcons at No. 21.
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This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Where Bengals, Falcons sit in NFL power rankings before Madrid game
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