After three straight years with no playoff appearances, the pressure is on the Bengals in 2026. Quarterback Joe Burrow’s assessment of the improvements the team has made since a disappointing 6-11 performance in 2025 will only increase the expectations.
Making the bar even higher is the fact that, for now, the Bengals are favored in 15 of their 17 regular-season games.
Via DraftKings, the Bengals are the underdogs only in Week 2 (+2.5, at Texans) and Week 7 (+3.5, at Ravens). The Bengals’ over-under for their win total is currently 9.6.
All of the lines can, and most will, change. But the current assessment of the Bengals is that they will be serious contenders in 2026. Which will set the stage for potentially significant changes if they fail to make the playoffs for a fourth straight year.
The most obvious change, if the team misses the postseason, would happen on the coaching staff — starting at the top. The more pressing question would become whether Burrow will fully commit for an eighth season, or whether he’d seek a mid-career change of scenery.
Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow thinks he’s surrounded by more talent than at any other point in his NFL career and that has him thinking big about the kind of numbers he’ll be able to put up this season.
Burrow was asked at a Wednesday press conference if there are any individual milestones he’s targeting during the 2026 season.
“I’m pretty close to the Bengals franchise touchdown record. I’m like 50 or something away, so that would be nice to break this year,” Burrow said.
Burrow is actually 47 touchdown passes away from tying Andy Dalton’s franchise record. Only five quarterbacks have reached that number in a single season — Peyton Manning did it twice — so the odds would favor Dalton holding onto the mark for at least one more year, but pulling it off would help Burrow’s chances of reaching another goal. He said he’d like to win an MVP “eventually” and putting that many points on the board would likely mean he’s put up that kind of season.
Edge rusher Trey Hendrickson was never going to re-sign with the Bengals once he hit free agency. The only question was: Where was he going to sign?
Hendrickson ended up with the Ravens, a day after Maxx Crosby failed a physical with Baltimore to negate a trade with the Raiders.
On Wednesday, Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow reacted to his former teammate landing with an AFC North rival.
“Not very surprising,” Burrow said, smiling, via Shelby Dermer of The Cincinnati Enquirer. “I know Trey. I love Trey. I just know how he operates.”
Burrow and Hendrickson were teammates for four seasons, but both were injured last season. The quarterback played only eight games and the edge rusher seven, which are big reasons for the Bengals’ 6-11 record last season.
Both are now healthy, and if they stay that way, Hendrickson will chase after Burrow for two games this season. The teams are scheduled to meet Oct. 25 in Baltimore and Dec. 31 in Cincinnati.
“That’ll definitely be fun,” Burrow said.
But Burrow said it’s always fun when the Ravens and Bengals play, regardless.
“Any time we play the Ravens, that one is circled,” Burrow said. “That goes back years when Lamar [Jackson] and I were a lot younger. That’s always a battle when we get after it.”
Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow said earlier this week that the team has “everything we need” to contend for a Super Bowl title and he doubled down on his belief in the team’s capabilities at a press conference on Wednesday.
The Bengals spent the offseason targeting additions to their defense and added defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence, edge rusher Boye Mafe, safety Bryan Cook, defensive tackle Jonathan Allen, second-round edge rusher Cashius Howell, and third-round cornerback Tacario Davis to the unit. The result is a group that Burrow feels stands apart from the teams he’s been on since he came to Cincinnati.
“I think this is the most talented roster that we’ve had since I’ve been here . . . We got guys that work really hard to put themselves in position to perform well, perform to our standard,” Burrow said. “We haven’t necessarily done that for a couple of years, so we brought some guys in who have been there and done that and have their own standard of play and are going to live up to that. Now we just have to come together as a unit and do it as a collective.”
Health has been another shortcoming for the Bengals in recent seasons and there’s no way to know how things will play out on that front come the fall. If it does, the talent on hand should position the Bengals for better results than the ones that left Burrow despondent near the end of the 2025 season.
Joe Burrow expressed his frustration at the end of an injury-plagued 2025 season. The Bengals quarterback said he needed to have fun if he was going to keep playing football.
Missing nine games wasn’t fun, and neither was the team missing the postseason for a third consecutive season.
Burrow, though, is satisfied with what the Bengals have done this offseason in attempting to rebuild their defense.
“They’re going to keep getting great players to come play for the Bengals, and when they do that, then it’s my job and Zac’s job and the leaders of this team to bring the locker room together and then go execute on the field,” Burrow said Monday, via Geoff Hobson of the team website. “We have everything we need.
“We made a big trade for a big-time player. Signed a free agent top safety on the market and other additions. We’ll see how the rookies end up. . . . But first impressions, we’ve got guys that care about the game, care about their job, and want to be great. When you have young guys like that and veterans like we do, it’s a recipe for success.”
Burrow pointed specifically to the acquisitions of defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence, safety Bryan Cook and edge rusher Jonathan Allen.
“You can feel the vibe and the leadership has changed in the locker room a little bit,” Burrow said. “It’s exciting for everyone.
“B. Cook, in the limited time he’s been here, you can feel his presence early. Dexter, too. A lot of guys on the D-Line now. You have Jonathan Allen. Myles [Murphy] is walking around with a little more pep in his step this year. That’s exciting to see. I think he grew in confidence from the last five, six games. We need to carry that over, and I’m excited to see that.”
The Bengals have seven consecutive 1 p.m. starts to open the season, a first in Burrow’s seven seasons.
“That’s good. When we go on the road, we get back home early and watch more football,” Burrow said. “It’s always beneficial to watch more games. See how teams are playing and what teams are doing. See what defenses are doing.
“We’ll try to get flexed a couple of times into the sweet spot later in the season. Everybody feels like this is going to be an exciting season for us, so now we put in the work over the next several months to put the pieces in place to get to where we want.”
NFL Network lost its schedule-release show. It’s nevertheless gaining a late-season Saturday doubleheader.
In Week 16, on the day after Christmas, NFLN will televise a game at 4:30 p.m. ET and 8:00 p.m. ET.
The schedule identifies four potential games for the two slots: Buccaneers-Falcons, Bengals-Colts, Commanders-Vikings, and Panthers Steelers.
The decision as to which games will slide from Sunday to Saturday will be made during the season.
Coupled with a Thursday night game and three Christmas Day games, Week 16 will have 10 total windows — one more than Thanksgiving week. That leaves only eight games to be played on the Saturday afternoon windows.
We don’t know if Fernando Mendoza will be starting at quarterback for the Raiders in Week 1 of the regular season, but we do know who the Raiders will be playing in the first overall pick’s potential debut.
The NFL’s schedule reveal on Thursday night shows that the Raiders will host the Dolphins at 4:25 p.m. ET on Sunday, September 13. The game will be on Fox.
Mendoza will have to get the nod over Kirk Cousins in order to start for the Raiders. Offseason addition Malik Willis is expected to make his first appearance for the Dolphins. Both teams will definitely have head coaches making their offseason debut as Las Vegas hired Klint Kubiak in February and Miami hired Jeff Hafley in January.
Sunday will also feature a pair of divisional games in the late afternoon window. The Packers will visit the Vikings while the Commanders will be in Philadelphia to renew their acquaintance with the Eagles. The NFC North matchup will be on CBS while the NFC East clash will be broadcast by Fox.
The other late game on Sunday afternoon will see the Cardinals visiting the Chargers on CBS. Arizona could have Jacoby Brissett, Gardner Minshew or rookie Carson Beck at quarterback for that contest.
The 1 p.m. ET games will send the Bills to Houston for a date with the Texans while the Browns go on the road against the Jaguars. The Colts will host the Ravens, the Saints will visit the Lions, the Buccaneers will travel to Cincinnati for Dexter Lawrence’s first game as a Bengal, and the Steelers will kick off the Mike McCarthy era — with or without Aaron Rodgers — at home against the Falcons.
Previous reports revealed that the Jets will be in Tennessee and that the Bears will head to Charlotte to face the Panthers. The Jets-Titans game will be on CBS along with the Bills-Texans, Ravens-Colts and Browns-Jaguars games. All the other 1 p.m. games will be on Fox.
The entire Week 1 slate will kick off on Wednesday, September 9 with a Patriots-Seahawks Super Bowl rematch in Seattle on NBC. Thursday will bring a Netflix game between the 49ers and Rams in the NFL’s first game in Melbourne and Sunday night will find the Cowboys at MetLife Stadium to meet the Giants on NBC’s Sunday Night Football. Those games were all announced ahead of Thursday’s full schedule reveal, which was also the case for the ESPN Monday night game between the Broncos and Chiefs in Kansas City.
Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins had his second straight double-digit touchdown season in 2025, but he fell short of another individual goal for the third straight year.
Higgins picked up 846 yards on 59 catches and he has failed to reach the 1,000-yard mark since the 2022 campaign. During an interview with Rob Gregson of A to Z Sports, Higgins said he has designs on ending that streak this fall.
“I’m trying to shoot for that 1,000 yards this year. I missed that the last few seasons,” Higgins said. “I’m trying to get at least 10 touchdowns. Just throwing some goals out there,”
Higgins missed 10 games over the 2023 and 2024 seasons, but was able to play in 15 games last year. Many of those games came without quarterback Joe Burrow, however, and the inability for the Bengals to match a healthy offense with a quality defense has kept them out of the playoffs the last three years.
The offseason has been devoted to beefing up that defense and getting better health on offense would be a step toward fulfilling all of the individual and team goals in Cincinnati this time around.
New Bengals defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence wanted No. 97 from Shemar Stewart. And Lawrence has gotten it.
Stewart told reporters this week that he surrendered 97 for an undisclosed fee.
“Man, he earned that, so it’s his number,” Stewart said, via Noelle Blumel of WCPO. “So I had no right to keep that number.”
The conversation between Lawrence and Stewart was simple. “Dex [was] like, ‘What you want for the number?’” Stewart said. “Told him a reasonable number. And he’s like, ‘OK.’ Here, I told him, like, ‘I’m not gonna be the one to stop you from getting your number. I’m not that type of guy. You’re probably like a walking legend.’”
Stewart has moved to No. 94, which was worn by Sam Hubbard from 2018 through 2024. Defensive tackle Jordan Jefferson wore No. 94 in 2025; he has now moved to No. 68.
Four quarterbacks will be featured on the third season of the Netflix series Quarterback.
The streaming service announced on Wednesday that Cam Ward, Jayden Daniels, Baker Mayfield, and Joe Flacco will be featured on this edition of the show. The show will chronicle the quarterbacks’ experiences during the 2025 season and will premiere on July 14.
Each quarterback’s storyline should have some interesting moments. Ward went through his rookie season with the Titans after being selected with the first pick of the draft while Daniels’s much-anticipated second season with the Commanders was wiped out by injuries. Mayfield thrived early in the year, but he and the Buccaneers struggled later in a year that ended without a playoff berth. Flacco opened the season as the starter for the Browns, but was traded to the Bengals to fill in for the injured Joe Burrow.
Burrow Kirk Cousins, Jared Goff, Patrick Mahomes, and Marcus Mariota were featured on the first two seasons of the show.
