4. Cincinnati Bengals
The Cincinnati Bengals may have lost to the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, but given that they didn’t play most of their best players it doesn’t drop them in these rankings at all. While I think there is a noticeable gap in the likelihood of making the Super Bowl between the Bengals and the top three teams on this list, if there was one team in the lower half of this list that I think could get hot and surprise people, it’s Cincinnati.
While I would still favor the Chiefs in a playoff rematch, the Bengals showed in their first meeting that they don’t have any fear in them. The combination of Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, Tyler Boyd, and Joe Mixon give them a dangerous offense that can keep pace with anyone if they are clicking. I don’t love their defense, but sometimes a game can come down to what quarterback gets hot, and with Burrow there is always a chance that team could be the Bengals.
I think the Bengals got a nice favorable draw in the first round. As I mentioned in the Raiders section I think playing such a long, late, exhausting game on Sunday night and then having to travel away for a Saturday game is going to be hard on Las Vegas. I think it sets up nicely for the Bengals to get the pressure of their first playoff win in 31 years out of the way and then they can go into the divisional round loose and ready to try and knock someone off.