Streak Watch in NFL: Cincinnati Bengals at 3 and Counting

Streaks are the league's pulse. You can read the whole mood of NFL off who keeps stacking wins and who cannot find the exit, and this morning's board, counted straight from the results table, has some runs worth talking about.

There are seven clubs carrying streaks of three games or longer at the moment, which tells you something about how streaky this stretch of the calendar has been.

Riding high

The longest active run belongs to Cincinnati Bengals: three consecutive wins. Nobody stays hot forever, but while it lasts, every night has looked like a rerun of the same comfortable movie.

San Francisco 49ers carry a 3-game winning run of their own.

Add Buffalo Bills to the list too, 3 in a row.

Going the wrong way

Houston Texans cannot find the exit: three consecutive losses and counting. The schedule keeps coming regardless, which is either mercy or cruelty depending on the next opponent.

Miami Dolphins are on a slide of their own at 3 straight losses.

Philadelphia Eagles round out the skid list at 3 in a row.

At a glance

For the record, here is everything currently running at three-plus:

Worth remembering

At 3 games, the board's longest streak is officially a main character; nothing else in the league gets talked about the same way while it lives.

Streaks end, that is the one thing every single one of them does. They tell you where a team has been, loudly, and nothing at all about where the next game is going.