Stephen A. Smith Really Has Bengals (Not Patriots) Among Top 5 NFL Teams

Stephen A. Smith is drinking the Cincinnati Bengals Kool-Aid.

The 2-0 Bengals, as they so often do, have gotten off to a strong start and are fooling plenty of people into believing this is the year head coach Marvin Lewis wins a playoff game. And, well, count Smith among the many fawning over the admittedly impressive Bengals.

During Tuesday’s “First Take” episode, Smith ranked the Cincinnati No. 5 in his list of the top five NFL teams after Week 3. Furthermore, the ever-opinionated ESPN personality left the New England Patriots out of the top five.

Per usual, Smith explained himself by screaming — a lot.

“Listen to my top five!” Smith began. “I’m comin’ at ya right now. No. 5, as shocking as it may be for you, I got the Bengals at No.5! Yes, Marvin Lewis, the man that should’ve been fired about 10 years ago, THAT dude I got his team as one of the top five teams. Why?! Because Andy Dalton, A.J. Green — that’s why!

“The problem with the Bengals have nothing to do with the regular season, has nothing to do with their talent, it’s how they show up in the POSTseason — this is the regular season. They deserve to be top five, Ryan, Max!”

Do the 1-1 Patriots belong in the top five? It’s debatable, but probably not. Saying the Bengals are better, however, feels like misguided lunacy.

Now, we think the Bengals are pretty good, but we certainly don’t think they’re among the top five teams in the NFL.

Click for NESN.com’s Week 3 NFL power rankings > >