2018 NFL Power Rankings, Week 15: Cowboys hot, Steelers not

Recap: Losers of four straight games, the struggling Bengals made their way to the West Coast to take on the surging Los Angeles Chargers. The team would now be without wide receiver A.J. Green after being re-injured last Sunday in the loss to the Denver Broncos. And Marvin Lewis’ team would certainly make a game of it despite digging itself a 14-3 second-quarter hole. Running back Joe Mixon touched the ball 31 times and gained 138 yards from scrimmage and one of the team’s two touchdowns. As for the positives, Cincinnati played turnover-free football and limited the Chargers to 288 total yards – including 109 in the second half.

Next Week: The Bengals play at home for the third time in four weeks and host the Oakland Raiders for the first time since 2012. It’s a series that has gone Cincinnati’s way as of late as the team has won three of the last four meetings dating back to ’06. That includes a 33-13 win at Oakland three years ago in the clubs’ last meeting.

Playoff hopes: That very-promising 4-1 start as morphed into seven losses in the last eight outings for Lewis’ club. And this latest setback means the Bengals won’t finish with a winning record for the third consecutive year. That’s quite a departure for a franchise that reached the playoffs five straight years from 2011-15.

Next: No. 24