Sunday, September 13th
Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Cincinnati Bengals, 1:00 PM ET
While I am high on the Cincinnati Bengals for the 2026 season, Week 1 could be a different story. Not only can Week 1 results be more shocking than it other weeks, but the Bengals are a team that does notoriously start out slow. And given how bad this team's defense was in 2025, it could take more than a week for this revamped unit to come into their own.
I have maintained that I have gotten 2021 offseason vibes from the Bengals this offseason. Back in 2021, the Bengals added a good bit of talent on defense in the offseason but weren't really a team that people identified as being a threat.
And all they did last year was make it to the Super Bowl. While getting to the Super Bowl might not happen in 2026, this team is good enough to get there, but the first order of business would be to snap a three-year playoff-drought streak.
While the Tampa Bay Buccaneers aren't a major threat, they are a more known, proven commodity right now than the Bengals are, so I would actually be more inclined to take the Bucs here. Tampa has been able to win the NFC South regularly, and they have not won fewer than eight games in a season since the 2019 campaign.
In the long run, though, I'd feel more comfortable taking the Bengals to win more games and advance deeper into the NFL playoffs. The Bengals are once again starting out a season in the hole, as we have the Buccaneers winning this one in a close game.
The Buccaneers are a better defense than what the Bengals have as of now, and Baker Mayfield is perfectly capable of going into Cincy and getting a win.
Prediction: Tampa Bay wins 27-24
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