The Bengals’ defense wasted no time making its case in Week 1, and Boye Mafe was right at the center of it.
Cincinnati opened 2026 with a 33-27 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a result that got the league’s attention and pushed the Bengals into the conversation as a contender in the AFC. The defense drove the afternoon, forcing four turnovers and even adding a scoop-and-score to the mix.
That kind of outing is exactly what Duke Tobin and the front office had in mind when they went to work on the defense this offseason. Cincinnati knew it needed more firepower after two straight years in which the team probably should have reached the postseason but fell short because the defense couldn’t hold up its end. The Bengals made a real push to fix that, and one of their biggest bets was Mafe, the former Seahawks edge rusher who had just won a Super Bowl in Seattle.
In his first regular-season game with Cincinnati, Mafe delivered a stat line that jumped off the page: a sack, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery. Baker Mayfield spent the day looking over his shoulder, and Mafe’s speed-power combo showed why the Bengals paid to bring him in.
The numbers backed up the eye test, too. PFF gave Mafe an 86.5 grade, the best mark on the Bengals’ defense in the game.
That was a meaningful performance for a player who was asked to step into the role Trey Hendrickson left behind after joining the Ravens following his long contract saga at Paycor Stadium. Mafe looked every bit like a legitimate edge threat in Week 1, and when you pair that with Cincinnati’s interior group of Dexter Lawrence and Jonathan Allen, the front suddenly looks loaded.
The contract says plenty as well. Mafe signed a three-year, $60 million deal with the Bengals, and after one week, it already looks like money well spent. Just as important, he did it after being stuck in a rotational role in Seattle.
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