Week 1 is finally here for the Bengals, and the opener brings a familiar quarterback back to Cincinnati. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are coming to town, with Baker Mayfield leading the way after his bounce-around stretch around the league and a resurgence in Tampa.
Mayfield’s history against Cincinnati is no small note, either. He is 6-2 against the Bengals, with one of those losses coming when he was with the Carolina Panthers.
But this matchup is a different test than the one Cincinnati faced in 2021 and earlier, because the defense taking the field now looks nothing like the one from those seasons. Even in 2021, the teams met in the final week, and the Bengals sat most of their starters after locking up the AFC North.
For Cincinnati, the early swing of the game could matter a lot. Joe Burrow and the offense have had their share of slow starts even with all the continuity they’ve built. If they can jump out quickly, it would make life easier for a defense that will be leaning on a lot of new faces for major snaps.
Around the Bengals, there’s plenty of attention on the young defense and the players trying to shape it. Cook keeps showing why he wanted to be in Cincinnati, and why the Bengals were right to commit to him at safety. He’s been a vocal presence for that group, and he has the kind of winning background that gives weight to what he says.
There’s also optimism that this defense could make a real leap. Cincinnati has too often been stuck in games where the offense had to score in the 40s just to have a shot, and that kind of burden usually ends in frustration. If the defense takes a major step forward, this has the chance to be a very different kind of season.
The roster churn around the league has also put some former Bengals back in the spotlight, and not in a flattering way. A number of past castoffs have had trouble sticking elsewhere, and Cordell Volson getting cut by the Tennessee Titans after spending most of his time in Cincinnati as an uncontested starter stands out as a clear example. It’s a familiar and frustrating cycle, and there’s at least some hope the linebackers don’t end up following that path.
Elsewhere in the league, the Steelers are suddenly looking a lot like the Bengals from the Andy Dalton years. Pittsburgh hasn’t won a playoff game since the 2016 season, and if that drought continues this year, it will have been a decade. They were blown out 30-6 by the Houston Texans last postseason, their fifth straight first-round exit, and the note about Mike McCarthy as head coach comes with plenty of sarcasm.
As for the Bengals in national predictions, the offense is drawing plenty of attention. One bold take has Cincinnati throwing it more than anyone else in football, with Chase at the center of everything.
If Joe Burrow stays healthy for the full season, that connection could be at its best yet. In that scenario, Chase would break Calvin Johnson’s single-season receiving record of 1,964 yards, win Offensive Player of the Year, and make his 2024 triple crown season look easy by comparison.
That kind of prediction is as bold as it gets, and nobody inside the building would trade a deep playoff run for individual awards. Still, if Chase is putting up numbers like that, the Bengals are probably rolling.
There’s also some recognition for two more Cincinnati players in the preseason chatter. DJ Turner and Chase Brown both landed on the list, with Turner ranked just behind Joey Porter Jr. at cornerback and Brown the only running back to crack the top 25. Both are in position for possible long-term deals next offseason, though the expectation is that Turner could at least be facing the franchise tag.
In Other News...
Former Bengals Are Suddenly Fighting For NFL Jobs Again
The final roster cuts around the league brought an old familiar churn for former Bengals, with several ex-Cincinnati players suddenly back in the job market as Week 1 approached. It is the part of the NFL calendar where careers can pivot quickly, and names that once felt settled in a depth chart are now scattered across waiver wires and practice-squad boards.
Among the players caught in that wave were Geno Stone, Cordell Volson and Khalid Kareem, each released as teams trimmed down to their opening rosters. Others, including Cameron Sample and Bobby Hart, found temporary landing spots on practice squads, keeping their seasons alive for the moment while they wait to see whether a fuller opportunity is still ahead. [Read more 🡒]
Bengals Enter 2026 With The Pressure Fans Can Feel
The Bengals head into 2026 trying to turn the page on a frustrating season, and there is no shortage of reasons to keep an eye on them. ESPNs latest rankings slotted Cincinnati as the seventh most watchable and exciting team, a nod to both the talent on hand and the sense that every stretch of this season carries extra weight for a team that expects more from itself.
Zac Taylor, Joe Burrow and ownership remain at the center of the conversation, because the pressure around this group is about more than wins and losses. Cincinnati also knows the defense has to improve, and ESPN pointed to Dexter Lawrence II as a key player to watch in that pursuit, giving the Bengals a clear reminder that their next step will depend on more than just the offense carrying the load. [Read more 🡒]
Former Bengals WR Eddie Brown Just Lost A Piece Of Miami History
Eddie Browns place in Miami history was always going to be difficult to touch, but a freshman just did it. Malachi Toney of the Hurricanes turned in a 234-yard receiving performance to establish a new school mark, edging past the 220-yard standard Brown had held since his days starring in Coral Gables before going on to a seven-season run with the Bengals.
Brown remains one of the most memorable wideouts to come through Miami, part of the schools 1983 national title team and later a reliable piece for Cincinnati. Toney, who led college football in receptions last season, is already building the kind of rsum that suggests this may not be the last Miami record he pushes aside before eventually reaching the NFL Draft. [Read more 🡒]