The wait is over. For the first time in the 2026 season, the Cincinnati Bengals will take the field against someone other than themselves. The Bengals will host the Detroit Lions on Thursday evening in Paycor Stadium.
The starters will be playing, though they won’t see the whole game—possibly not even anything after the first drive or two. We’ll still get a good look at the starters, and then we’ll get a pretty good look at the depth behind them.
Here are a few things I’ll be keeping an eye on:
Stay Healthy
This
is the only thing that matters. I don’t care if they win or lose. I don’t care if everyone plays terribly and the entire fan base gets a terrible sense of dread. I don’t care about any of it. All I care about is the guys who go out on the field and come off with nothing more than the typical bumps and bruises.
The Bengals have something special going. The offense has never been in doubt, but the defense is completely overhauled. With so much more talent and depth on the defensive line, and with Bryan Cook added to a healthy secondary, the defense could complement a top-tier offense deep into the postseason.
If everyone stays healthy. That starts Thursday.
Offense doesn’t miss a beat
The Bengals’ starting offense in 2026 is going to be the same starting offense that walked off the field in 2025—on paper. The offensive line is the best Joe Burrow has had in his career. Burrow has the best wide receiver duo in the league in Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, and the rest of the receivers and tight ends all have a role to play.
I’d like to see the Bengals’ offense come out on the field and look like I expect them to look when the season starts. An opening-drive touchdown would be nice to see.
Defensive line improvement
The defensive line in 2025 included Trey Hendrickson, BJ Hill, TJ Slaton and Myles Murphy. Hendrickson is gone, but Hill, Slaton and Murphy are still here. Only Murphy is on top of the depth chart in 2026 on the defensive line, and that could have something to do with Shemar Stewart’s knee injury.
The rest of the starting defensive line is comprised of new starters brought to Cincinnati via free agency or trade. Dexter Lawrence is the new face of the defense, and was acquired via trade with the Giants. They also brought in Jonathan Allen, who is starting next to Lawrence, and Boye Mafe, who is starting opposite of Murphy.
This is the most improved position group on the team. It would be nice to see a little something from them against the Lions.
Burrow under center, multiple tight ends?
There has been a lot of talk about the new defense, but there has also been quite a bit of news released from camp about Burrow’s increased presence under center. If the Bengals are intending to put Burrow under center more often, it could open up entire new branches of the playbook.
The same could be said for the reports that the Bengals have been running 13 personnel in camp, meaning there is one wide receiver, one running back and three wide receivers. With multiple options at tight end, including Mike Gesicki, Erick All and a couple more, the offense could look totally different than what we’re expecting.
Will we see it in the preseason? Most teams like to keep things pretty vanilla in the preseason so as not to give anything away, but we might see a play or two.
What will you be looking for on Thursday?
Sound off!
It’s those changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes
Nothing remains quite the same
With all of our running and all of our cunning
If we couldn’t laugh we would all go insane.
*I’m in Florida
