Ja’Marr Chase used the second episode of his new podcast, Chasing No 1, to bring Tee Higgins into the conversation, and one of the topics they touched on was the Bengals’ 2026 slate.
That schedule has already been labeled a favorable one. After finishing 6-11 in 2025 and ending up only ahead of the Cleveland Browns in the AFC North, Cincinnati drew a third-place schedule for 2026.
By opponents’ 2025 winning percentages, it’s viewed as the third-easiest schedule in the NFL, behind only the New Orleans Saints and Browns. Vegas’ forecasted winning percentages paint an even softer picture, slotting the Bengals with the second-easiest schedule in the league.
Still, Higgins wasn’t interested in treating any of it like a free pass.
When Annie Agar asked what he and head coach Zac Taylor had said about the Bengals’ “easy” schedule, Higgins pushed back on the idea that the team should look at it that way.
"Coach doesn't talk about nothing like that because at the end of the day, you got to play professional athletes that are really good at their job," Higgins said. "We just got to go in with the mindset of wanting to win every game."
That outlook fits the reality of how unpredictable strength of schedule can be from one year to the next. The Chicago Bears, for example, entered last season with the third-hardest schedule based on win percentage, only for it to end up as the third-easiest once the year was over.
The New England Patriots were on the other side of that coin: before 2025, their opponents were projected to give them the third-easiest schedule in the league, and the Patriots wound up facing by far the easiest schedule in 2025, going 14-3 against opponents with a .391 winning percentage. That run carried them to the No. 2 seed in the AFC playoffs and a Super Bowl bid in Drake Maye’s second year as their quarterback.
The Bengals have seen the other side of this, too. When Joe Burrow led Cincinnati to the Super Bowl in 2021, the Bengals had the sixth-hardest strength of schedule entering the season.
So even if the numbers make the 2026 path look manageable on paper, Higgins made it clear the Bengals aren’t planning to approach it that way. In his view, there’s no reason to start handing out wins before the games are played.
In Other News...
Bengals Suddenly Have A Week 1 Concern In The Secondary
A new Week 1 concern surfaced in Cincinnati when cornerback DJ Turner showed up on the injury report with a hamstring issue after a limited practice. The timing is less than ideal with the season opener looming, especially since Turner is expected to handle the matchup against wide receiver Emeka Egbuka. It adds a little more uncertainty to a secondary that would rather spend the final days before kickoff tightening up its communication than managing late-week health questions.
The Bengals have spent plenty of time this offseason talking up their readiness for the new year, with JaMarr Chases career milestones also part of the broader conversation around what the offense could do next. But defensive availability can change the tone of a Week 1 game quickly, and Turners status is now one of the more important things to watch as Cincinnati finalizes its plan. If he is less than full speed, the Bengals may have to adjust on the fly in a spot where they would prefer not to be improvising. [Read more 🡒]
Bengals Veterans Are Quietly Protecting What Cincinnati Still Has Open
While the Bengals have spent plenty of time this season sorting out their bigger-picture questions, a quieter kind of work has been happening behind the scenes from a few veterans who know how to steady a locker room. Jalen Davis has become a useful presence in the secondary, where his day-to-day influence has helped cornerback DJ Turner keep growing, and Joe Flacco has stepped into the backup quarterback role with the kind of experience that can calm a room full of younger players.
The value of those voices goes beyond practice reps and game-day insurance. Cincinnati has leaned on veterans before, but this mix of leadership and mentorship matters because it reaches into two spots the team still needs to keep strong: the back end of the defense and the quarterback room. With Joe Burrow at the center of everything, Flaccos presence gives the Bengals an extra layer of support, while Davis continues to be part of the shaping of a secondary that still has room to mature. [Read more 🡒]
Joe Burrow Just Gave Bengals Fans A New MVP Argument
Austin Mock of The Athletic has put together a new quarterback evaluation tool called QB index, or QBI, and it is built to separate what a passer is doing from the help around him. The metric blends analytics and film study, including PFF grades, to create a broader read on quarterback play, which makes it especially interesting for a Bengals team that has spent plenty of time debating just how much of Joe Burrows brilliance is his own.
The early 2025 QBI rankings give Cincinnati fans plenty to point to in that argument. Burrow is at the top of the list, and the eye-opener is that the ranking still favors him even after accounting for receiver quality and offensive line performance, two of the biggest variables in judging any quarterback. For a fan base that has long believed its franchise passer belongs in the leagues top tier, this is the kind of outside validation that will keep the MVP talk humming. [Read more 🡒]