The Bengals opened the season with a win, but the first week did more than just put Cincinnati at 1-0. It offered a snapshot of how this team might look when the pieces start clicking. At Paycor Stadium on Sept. 13, the Bengals beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 33-27 in front of 66,625 fans and began the year 1-0 for a second straight season.
The biggest difference from last season showed up on defense. After one of the most disappointing defensive seasons in franchise history in 2025, Cincinnati came out forcing turnovers and changing the tone of the game.
The Bengals forced three fumbles in the first half alone and added another turnover after halftime. Barrett Carter, Demetrius Knight, Myles Murphy, Boye Mafe and Bryan Cook were all involved in creating those takeaways.
That early surge mattered because the offense didn’t exactly sprint out of the gate. Cincinnati’s defense and the turnovers it generated helped swing momentum back the Bengals’ way.
Last season, the Bengals finished at -3 in turnover differential. After one game, they already have as many defensive touchdowns as they had all of last year, when they had just one.
Four of Tampa Bay’s turnovers were recovered by Cincinnati, which is already half of the Bengals’ total fumble recoveries from the entire 2025 season. Two of those takeaways turned directly into points for the offense.
The new faces on defense made themselves felt, too. Jonathan Allen picked up his first sack with the Bengals on a key third-down play late in the third quarter, and that pressure forced a field goal.
Dexter Lawrence kept collapsing the pocket and creating problems for Baker Mayfield. Mafe and Cook each came away with fumble recoveries, and Mafe’s first sack also forced a fumble that T.J.
Slaton recovered as Cincinnati shut down Tampa’s momentum at a critical moment in the fourth quarter.
If the defense set the tone, Mike Gesicki gave the offense a jolt. After a relatively quiet offseason and preseason, the tight end delivered in a big way in the first half, catching five of seven targets for 54 yards and a touchdown. His production helped energize Cincinnati’s passing game and forced defenses to account for another weapon alongside Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase.
Higgins and Chase, though, had a quieter afternoon than usual. The two combined for five catches, 71 yards and no touchdowns.
Joe Burrow’s day had both sharp moments and rough edges. He finished 25 of 35 for 254 yards with one touchdown pass, but he also gave Tampa Bay a lifeline with a costly interception late in the third quarter. Josiah Trotter picked off Burrow and returned it for a touchdown, cutting Cincinnati’s lead to seven heading into the fourth quarter.
Evan McPherson helped keep the Bengals steady through the back-and-forth stretches. He hit all four of his field-goal attempts, including two from beyond 50 yards, and finished with 12 points by himself. In a game that kept swinging, McPherson was as reliable as Cincinnati needed him to be.
In Other News...
Bengals Win Hid A Surprising Early Grade Split
Pro Football Focus Week 1 grades offered a revealing snapshot of Cincinnatis win over Tampa Bay, and the offensive and defensive takeaways did not line up neatly. Mike Gesicki paced the offense with a 90.1 overall grade, giving the Bengals a clear bright spot in the passing game, while Joe Burrows 66.1 grade was a more middling note for a quarterback whose team still found a way to leave with a win.
On the other side of the ball, Barrett Carter and Boye Mafe both landed above 77, with Carter posting a career-high 80.5, and Dexter Lawrence added a strong 77.6 grade along with three pressures. The overall picture was less tidy for Cincinnatis defense, though, because some familiar names came in much lower, including Myles Murphy and Jonathan Allen, leaving the Bengals with a useful early reminder that a victory can still come with a split verdict underneath it. [Read more 🡒]
Russell Wilson Just Pushed Bengals Fans Into A Joe Burrow Debate
Russell Wilsons first turn as an NFL Today analyst on CBS stirred things up in Cincinnati almost immediately, and not because of anything he said about his own future. Wilson floated the idea that if the Bengals dont perform well this year, Joe Burrow could be gone, a comment that landed loudly with a fan base that already treats every Burrow development like a franchise referendum.
Burrow is under contract through 2029 and has publicly said he is committed to the Bengals, which is why Wilsons speculation set off so much pushback on social media. For Bengals fans, the debate is less about what Burrow has said and more about how much outside noise it takes before a star quarterback becomes the subject of one more round of anxious what-ifs. [Read more 🡒]
Bengals Finally Looked Complete But One Week 1 Debate Isnt Going Away
For one Sunday, the Bengals looked a lot closer to the finished product they spent the summer trying to build. Cincinnati handled Tampa Bay 33-27 behind four defensive takeaways and an offense that was steady enough to complement the pressure the defense created, with Joe Burrow moving better and the new faces on that side of the ball showing up right away.
Still, even after a win that checked a lot of boxes, one Week 1 discussion did not go away. The performance was encouraging enough to give the Bengals a real early-season foundation, but it also left just enough room for the kind of debate that tends to follow this team when the opener is over and the league starts picking apart what worked, what didn't, and what comes next. [Read more 🡒]