Sunday’s 33-27 victory over pesky Tampa Bay at Paycor Stadium reminded me of the Bengals’ opener in 2021, that vaunted season in our memories. Not merely because of the result or even how it played out, but because so many things we hoped to see (multiple forced turnovers, Dexter Lawrence causing havoc, a punishing pass rush, the usual good if not perfect offense, four Money Mac field goals) all happened.
Just as in ’21, an overtime win over the Vikings when Burrow threw a bomb to Chase for a TD and multiple other offseason talking points came to fruition, Sunday’s game was still a close one. But that’s the NFL. Tampa is good, Baker Mayfield has always been tough on Cincy, etc. So the fact the Bengals won is almost less important than the way it went down.
The Bengals are 10th in the NFL in defensive DVOA after one game. Tenth! Savor that since it may plummet, but it feels good for now. Last season, they ranked 31st in rushes of 15-plus yards allowed. They didn’t give up any against a Bucs rushing offense that is expected to be explosive. And, of course, after an offseason of stressing turnovers and game-changing defensive plays, Cincinnati forced a quartet of fumbles, all of which were recovered by the guys in stripes. That’s unsustainable both in the forcing and the luck in recovering them, but what a start for the revamped unit.
The new guys—Boye Mafe, Jonathan Allen, Bryan Cook—all made important plays. Naturally, though, none had as large an impact as Dexter Lawrence, whose enormous presence ate up a strong Tampa interior line. He didn’t hit the stat sheet, but that isn’t where you look for his impact. He shoved lineman back into Mayfield repeatedly, making him bail out or giving edge rushers a target unable to step up into the pocket. He also set a tone with relentless effort on a hot and steamy day. If this is the Dexy we get all season, it will be a Sexy one in Cincy.
Perhaps the most important portion of the game came in winning time, when the Bengals have blown so many games over the last three seasons. They got the ball back with 3:14 to play up by six points, and Tampa had all their timeouts. In these “four minute” situations when the team could run out the clock without exposing the defense to a comeback attempt, the Bengals have repeatedly failed to do so of late. But this time, Cincinnati remained aggressive, throwing multiple times to move the chains and lock up the win without Mayfield ever getting the chance for redemption.
The much-ballyhooed under-center look was used often enough not to be a mere changeup but rather an effective part of the scheme. It meant less to me per se than the increase in the use of motion, specifically using tight end Erick All as an across-the-formation Smashing Machine. You saw that on several occasions Sunday, with Chase Brown following All and Drew Sample, generally running right behind Amarius Mims. The TD run in the second quarter was a classic example of this concept, as Brown skipped in to the end zone untouched.
Speaking of Mims, I wrote in last week’s preview about how the matchup with much-hyped (and potential Bengals draftee) Reuben Bain would be fascinating and would have a large effect on the scoreboard. Well, Mims won the battle by a wide margin, dominating Bain and his T-Rex arms. Amarius is well along the path to “total domination,” which is what OL coach Scott Peters said he expects of Mims this season. Overall, Burrow was sacked just once and scarcely pressured by a strong Bucs front.
Burrow threw the ball quickly and, for the most part, accurately, albeit not to Ja’Marr Chase, who had just two grabs. JB did have a pick-six that allowed Tampa to make a game of it, literally the only thing you can’t do in that situation. Overall, not especially troublesome, although this makes four pick-sixes Burrow has thrown since returning from his toe injury last season. It’s mainly a timing thing, which makes sense in both early-season games and returning from a long injury break. Burrow’s play is not a concern, of course, and neither is throwing interceptions, particularly. But when they go back for touchdowns, that generally kills your team.
It didn’t in part because the Bengals got a scoop-and-score of its own, thanks to Demetrius Knight. The Bengals had one defensive return TD all last season, so to get one in the first quarter of 2026 feels like a good omen going forward. Both Much-Maligned Linebackers (TM) played well. Barrett Carter was roaming all over the place. He still missed some tackles, including getting the stanky-leg from Mayfield on Baker’s scramble TD. But he was much more instinctive and fired into tackles with confidence, including the forced fumble that became Knight’s big play.
Overall the missed tackle bugaboo still raised its ugly head. The exact number can be in the eye of the beholder, but it was certain Cincinnati led the league in that dubious stat by a wide margin in 2025 and had circa 10 missed tackles (again, depending on who you believe) on Sunday. It seemed to matter a bit less because the Bengals were much better in rallying to the ball when a tackle was missed, as on Bucky Irving’s fumble, when he juked Carter but Bryan Cook, in his Cincy homecoming, jarred the ball loose. Missed tackles were epidemic across the league in Week 1, a partial reason for the explosion of scoring. But the Bengals still need to improve there, as the forced fumbles won’t be as legion going forward.
Next up is a tough road contest in Houston. The Texans and their high-profile (and expensive) defense were scorched by the Bills on Sunday, allowing 36 points and nearly 8 yards per play. Can the Bengals replicate Buffalo’s success? The Bills played some YOLO ball, with Josh Allen chucking it deep and often while handing off only 15 times. It was a textbook example of the falsity of the maxim “Establish the run to set up play-action.” The Bills, under new coach and former Burrow-whisperer Joe Brady, went play-action on 40 percent of their passes, for an average 13.68 air yards, which teams almost never do against Houston.
Their key was pass-protection, with the O-line sliding to help left tackle Dion Dawkins on Will Anderson, and a bunch of chipping, pulling and—importantly—pseudo actions of these moves. Houston’s D was continually off-balance as a result. Can Cincinnati replicate that? With Houston down a couple of linebackers to injury, a seam-based play-action attack wouldn’t be surprising, but of course that’s never been the specialty of Burrow & Co.
Offensively, the Texans ran well with physical backs Woody Marks and David Montgomery. Their line has been an issue over the last couple of seasons, leading to quarterback C.J. Stroud’s regression, but they played well enough Sunday. Houston will no doubt try to keep up this hammering style against Cincinnati, so Lawrence’s play in particular becomes paramount to halting that game plan.
Meanwhile, the Bengals will hope to get pressure without blitzing. Stroud has been poor against tricky zone concepts, and if Al Golden can muddy his reads with multiple coverages and not give him hot routes and easy looks the Bengals can make Houston one-dimensional. Game script will be important, as usual. A large reason Cincinnati was able to get so much pressure on Mayfield and play fast and loose defensively was that they led early on. Tampa’s pass/run split was 37-15, after factoring in Baker’s scrambles, not a ratio they desired entering the game. Falling behind and exposing Burrow to the Texans’ fierce rush is a recipe for losing.
Given this tough matchup and that the next two games are at Pittsburgh and home for explosive Jacksonville, Sunday’s Week 1 win more crucial than the usual opener. I was worried about the vibes turning if things didn’t start well. That won’t be a problem now—at least, not for another week.
Robert Weintraub heads up Bengals coverage for Cincinnati Magazine and has written for The New York Times, Grantland, Slate, and Deadspin. Follow him on X at @robwein.
