The Cincinnati Bengals are 1-0 after defeating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at home by a score of 33-27 on Sunday. For the first time in Joe Burrow’s career, he’s won Week 1 games in back-to-back seasons, and while it wasn’t always pretty, the Bengals soundly defeated a pretty solid team that should push for the NFC South title.
There’s a lot to talk about, so here are some things that stood out to me:
- First, I was a little shocked that Landon Robinson was a healthy scratch. I get that he’s a seventh-round pick, but I thought he played really well throughout the preseason. Having too many defensive tackles is a good problem to have, I guess, but I was hoping to see the young kid—especially after seeing him arrive for his first NFL game in his dress uniform from the Naval Academy.
- I’m convinced at this point that Burrow is just a slow starter. He wasn’t terrible on Sunday, but he wasn’t his normal self, and his pick-six thrown to linebacker Josiah Trotter was very un-Burrow-like. I’m not overly concerned about the offense, though. There’s way too much talent for this group not to find its stride.
- It’s clear the Bengals really do want to emphasize Burrow playing under center to set up the play-action game. I can see the potential, even if Burrow doesn’t look completely comfortable with it yet.
- Amarius Mims absolutely shut down the Bucs’ first-round pick Rueben Bain Jr. Had the Bengals not traded the No. 10 overall selection for Dexter Lawrence, I would have liked to see them land Bain. Instead, Mims—whose arms are six inches longer than Bain’s—just kept him completely out of the game. It’s not that Bain won’t be good (though his short arms might be an issue), but I think Mims has the potential to become one of the best right tackles in the league.
- Boye Mafe was outstanding. He had a sack, a tackle for loss, multiple hurries, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. I still think Trey Hendrickson is probably the best free-agent signing the Bengals have pulled off over the last decade or so, but Mafe showed Sunday that he could potentially fill those big shoes.
- Al Golden’s defense had waves of pressure coming from all directions. Baker Mayfield was sacked four times, with five different players getting credit for them. The Bucs aren’t a bad team, and bringing down Mayfield four times while forcing four turnovers was huge.
- With the Bengals’ slow offensive start, I doubt they win this game without the additions of Lawrence, Mafe, Jonathan Allen and Bryan Cook.
- Tackling was still an issue on Sunday, but I’m willing—for now—to write it off as Week 1 jitters. Players were generally in the right place at the right time, but there were several instances where Bucs players bounced off tackles and picked up extra yards. That needs to be cleaned up.
- I questioned the Bengals’ decision to stick with Demetrius Knight Jr. and Barrett Carter in 2026. They missed six tackles between them—three each—sharing the team leads in that category. However, they both made some great plays, including Knight’s touchdown and Carter’s sack and forced fumble. With the deep and talented defensive line in front of them, I think I could get on board with the duo… as long as they stop missing tackles.
- Samaje Perine is still a pretty big part of the Bengals’ offense. Tahj Brooks only took two offensive snaps all day.
- Burrow was sacked only once, and that sack was given up by tight end Drew Sample. The offensive line played very well all day long.
- The defensive line was outstanding, too.
- When was the last time we could say that about both the Bengals’ offensive and defensive lines?
- Lawrence had PFF’s highest pass-rushing grade on the Bengals’ defense (71.1) and was credited with one hit and two hurries. He had an 18.2% pass-rush win rate, which was best on the team and seventh-best in the league before Monday Night Football.
- Worth every little bit of that No. 10 overall selection.
- If you’re worried about Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, don’t be. They’re going to be just fine. Instead, be thankful the Bengals held on to Mike Gesicki, who essentially served as WR3 and found himself in space all day long. Let teams focus all their attention on the best wide-receiver duo in the league. Burrow will find someone else.
There’s more, but we need to talk a little about the Houston Texans.
The Bengals head to Houston to face
the Texans, who have, in my opinion, the worst team name in the NFL.
You’re named the Texans because you’re proud to be from Texas? Neat.
The Bengals were named after a professional football team that existed in Cincinnati in the late ’30s and early ’40s. Plus, in a battle between your average Bengal tiger and your average dude from Texas (no weapons)… well, I’ll always put my money on the giant murder cat.
Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, I do think the Texans are a good team.
They lost at home in Week 1 to a very good Buffalo Bills team by a score of 36-31, but they nearly pulled off the upset. Houston took a one-point lead in the fourth quarter but couldn’t keep Josh Allen and company out of the end zone.
The Texans don’t want to start the season 0-2 and losing both games in front of their home crowd, and they’re going to come out swinging to make sure that doesn’t happen.
The Bengals can win this game. I think they’re the better team, but they’ll need to clean up some of the issues from Week 1 if they want to head to Pittsburgh in Week 3 with a 2-0 record.
Quick thoughts from around the AFC North:
- The Steelers beat Cooper Rush and the Falcons in Pittsburgh by a score of 20-13. Color me unimpressed.
- The Ravens went to Indy and beat the pants off the Colts, 41-23. Derrick Henry, who is somehow still doing this at 32 years old, carried the ball 24 times for 144 yards and three touchdowns. Color me impressed.
- The Browns are the Browns.
The score was closer than the game ever really felt on Sunday, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t things the Bengals need to clean up. They got the most important thing they needed from Week 1—a win.
Now comes Houston.
And if they don’t clean up a handful of those mistakes, they won’t be leaving Texas with another one.
Relative Song Lyrics:
All my exes live in Texas
And Texas is the place I’d dearly love to be
But all my exes live in Texas
Therefore I reside in Tennessee
