The Cincinnati Bengals may be sitting through a bye week, but the buzz around this 2026 team isn’t slowing down.
What’s popping first is the passing game. Joe Burrow and Tee Higgins are looking exactly like the kind of quarterback-receiver pairing the Bengals were hoping for, and through five weeks that connection has already started to feel like one of the best in the league.
Then there’s the defensive line, where the offseason additions are making a fast, loud impact.
Dexter Lawrence has wasted no time showing why he was such a major pickup. Five games in, he’s still playing like one of the strongest interior forces in football, and Pro Football Focus has the numbers to back it up.
According to PFF, the Bengals lead the NFL in defensive stuff rate at 30%. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Miami Dolphins, Seattle Seahawks, and Green Bay Packers round out the top five.
Lawrence has been a headache for opposing offenses all season, and PFF currently grades him as the third-best defensive tackle in the NFL. That overall mark includes the fourth-best pass-rush grade at 82.4 and the 10th-best run-defense grade at 72.8.
But the benefit hasn’t stopped with Lawrence. The pressure he helps create has opened things up for the rest of the front, and Boye Mafe is taking full advantage.
Another offseason addition, Mafe has come out strong with three sacks and one forced fumble in five games. PFF has him ranked as the 12th-best edge rusher in the league.
A lot of the attention around this defense has gone to the linebacker issues and some shakiness in the secondary, but the defensive line has been carrying itself like a true strength. That unit has been elite.
And it’s not just the defense. The offensive line has also taken a step forward, which only adds to the sense that the Bengals are putting pieces together in all the right places.
The early bye can be a tough break for a lot of teams, but this one might have landed at the perfect moment for Cincinnati. It gives the Bengals a full week to sort through the running game and clean up some defensive areas before they return for a crucial matchup with the Baltimore Ravens.
When that game arrives in two weeks, the Ravens will know exactly what kind of front they’re walking into.
In Other News...
Bengals Safety Problems Keep Reviving One Painful Reunion Idea
The Bengals have spent plenty of time trying to patch the hole Jessie Bates left behind, and it is easy to understand why the topic keeps circling back. Cincinnati has tried to address safety through free agency and the draft, but the search has not exactly settled the defense, and Bryan Cooks injury only adds to the uncertainty around a position group that has been hard to stabilize since Bates moved on.
Bates remains the kind of player who naturally fuels reunion chatter because of how much he once meant to the Bengals secondary, but the road back is not simple. Even with the defensive issues still hanging over the roster, any move involving him would have to make sense for Cincinnati in terms of cost, and that is why this idea stays more of a lingering what-if than a likely solution. [Read more 🡒]
Derrick Henry Just Put Bengals Defensive Front Under The Spotlight
As Cincinnati gets ready for a pivotal AFC North meeting with Baltimore, Derrick Henrys comments have added a little extra heat to a matchup already defined by trench play. The Ravens back spent time talking up the Bengals defensive tackles, singling out Dexter Lawrence and Jonathan Allen for the kind of disruptive, physical presence that can change how an offense approaches the run game.
That respect only sharpens the pressure on Cincinnatis front, which has been vulnerable against the run even if opponents have not leaned on it heavily in volume. The Bengals have given up 5.0 yards per carry, a ranking that leaves them near the bottom of the league, and now they are staring at a division opponent with one of the NFLs most punishing runners waiting to test that weakness. [Read more 🡒]
Bengals Fans Can Still Turn Spain Into A Real Road Trip
The Bengals are heading overseas again this fall, and for fans who have been waiting for an international trip to fit their budget, Madrid is looking more realistic than it might have a few years ago. Cincinnati will face the Falcons in Spain on Sunday, Nov. 8, giving the franchise its first international game in seven years and opening the door for supporters who have always wanted to turn a road game into a bigger travel experience.
Round-trip flights from Cincinnati to Madrid are available for under $1,000, which is the kind of detail that can move a trip from daydream to actual planning. The matchup will be played at Bernabu Stadium, with a 3:30 p.m. local kickoff, so anyone making the journey will get a true football weekend in one of Europes biggest sports cities. [Read more 🡒]