Bengals' Triplets Ranked Behind Fellow AFC Contender

The Bengals won the AFC last season in large part due to the play of Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase and Joe Mixon. 

Does that mean Cincinnati has the best triplets (quarterback, running back and wide receiver) in the NFL? 

Not quite according to CBS Sports' latest rankings. 

The Bengals were second behind the Chargers. Los Angeles has Justin Herbert, Austin Ekeler and Keenan Allen. 

"The Burrow-Chase connection figures to be one of the NFL's best for a long time, and was nearly enough to nab Cincy the top spot in our rankings," Jared Dubin wrote. "As you can see from the average rankings and the fact that both teams only received votes between first and fourth, our panel considered these two teams the clear cream of the crop, a step above Buffalo. Herbert's remarkable first two seasons, Ekeler's breakout as maybe the league's best pass-catching running back, and Allen's year-to-year consistency are likely what earned Los Angeles just a single more first-place vote than Cincinnati, and made the Chargers the No. 1 team in this year's Triplets Rankings."

The Chargers edged out the Bengals by .1 on their voting scale. It's slightly surprising to me. Chase is clearly better than Allen at this stage of his career. Burrow threw for 4,611 yards and 34 touchdowns, while leading the Bengals to the Super Bowl and Mixon topped 1,500 yards from scrimmage last season, finishing with 16 total touchdowns. 

Second place is still great and it was a close vote, but it's a bit surprising that the Bengals aren't first in the rankings.