The Cincinnati Bengals held on for a 33-27 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Here’s what we learned.
The defense is hungry and confident
After a long offseason of conjecture, we finally know what the defense can actually do.
Yes, they’re still a little leaky, missing tackles. And they were flagged for being line up offsides multiple times. But they’re bold and chomping at the bit to make a big play.
It’s somewhat similar to those playmaking defenses in 2021 and 2022. Bend but don’t break, with some turnovers in between that give the offense
a nice boost.
The four fumbles and four sacks were a lot more than we would’ve seen out of the defenses in 2024 and 2025, and three early fumble recoveries are what gave the Bengals a nice cushion for the game.
It’s not an injury thing; Joe Burrow just needs real reps to warm up
For a QB with as high of a football IQ as Joe Burrow, his interception was a head scratcher.
The only real explanation is that Burrow just needs some time to get back into a rhythm in the regular season.
It kinda makes sense when you consider how little the seventh-year QB has played in the preseason.
The good news is, he was able to do just enough to secure a victory in Week 1, so the offense should only be better from here on out.
Touches on offense are going to be more evenly distributed
With Ja’Marr Chase being the focus of the Bucs’ secondary and only getting four targets, Burrow looked elsewhere.
Chase Brown had six targets, which was as many as Tee Higgins. But it was Mike Gesicki who led the team with seven targets. Drew Sample, Andrei Iosivas, and Samaje Perine had three targets, and Dohnte Meyers and Tanner Hudson even got a look each.
And the run-to-pass ratio was solid, with 27 runs and 35 passes.
There has been talk of a move to a more traditional approach on offense with Dan Pitcher more involved in play design, but now it seems to be official.
