This story is part of a series previewing the Ravens’ AFC North opponents for the 2026 season.
The Cincinnati Bengals have been a tale of two teams in the Joe Burrow era. Between 2021 and 2022, Burrow started 32 games and the Bengals averaged 11 wins. They made the AFC championship game twice and nearly won a Super Bowl, losing to the Los Angeles Rams by a field goal.
In the three years since, the Bengals haven’t finished in the top half of the AFC North, Burrow has missed a combined 16 games and the defense has regressed year over year. The prevailing image of this second stint has been Burrow and head coach Zac Taylor shaking their heads on the sideline after another inexplicable loss.
Optimism will be high in Cincinnati entering the 2026 season. Burrow is healthy, the offense again has one of the best skill position groups in the league and the defense has been retooled. Can the Bengals recapture the magic of 2021 and 2022 or are they destined to remain a .500 team?
Offensive outlook
This side of the ball has rarely been the problem for the last several years. Last season, the team started quarterbacks Joe Flacco and Jake Browning for a combined nine games and still finished 12th in the league in points. Across a three-game stretch led by Flacco, the Bengals scored 33, 38 and 42 points but only won one of those games.
When things are humming for this offense, Burrow runs the show using the passing game as an entrée and the run game as a side dish. It’s unsurprising the Bengals have been in the top seven in passing attempts in each of the last four years. Burrow manipulates the defenses pre- and post-snap, and receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins make big plays in the short, intermediate and deep parts of the field.
That success can be expected to continue this year, especially if the Bengals can limit turnovers. Last year, the one problem that plagued the offense was giveaways, ranking 27th in the NFL. That can be attributed in part to the rotation at quarterback, leading to miscommunication and lack of reps with offensive teammates. If Burrow can play every week, the continuity by itself will likely improve that metric. In 2024, when Burrow played a full season, the offense was sixth in the league in points and 19th in turnovers.
Defensive outlook
The key word here is projection. The Bengals’ defense was terrible last year, ranking 30th in the league in points allowed and 31st in yards allowed, but they made several offseason additions and hope their young players develop.
They project 2025 first-round pick defensive end Shemar Stewart to take a step forward after a forgettable rookie year. He missed part of last offseason due to a contract dispute, went on injured reserve midseason due to a knee issue and only registered one sack in eight games. They project defensive end Boye Mafe, a rotational player who only played 50 percent of defensive snaps with the Seattle Seahawks last season, to be an impactful starter. They project their starting inside linebacker duo of Barrett Carter and Demetrius Knight Jr. — who both struggled as rookies last year — to make progress in Year 2.
What the Bengals are hoping to be a certainty is the improvement of the defensive line. In April, they traded the 10th overall pick of the 2026 draft to the New York Giants for tackle Dexter Lawrence, a three-time Pro Bowler who impacts the game on both run and pass downs. However, even Lawrence will have to prove himself. In 2025 he only had a half-sack in 17 games after averaging seven sacks in the prior three seasons.
Matching up with the Ravens
Quarterback Lamar Jackson has had tremendous success against the Bengals in his career, winning 11 of his 13 starts. He and the Ravens will believe they can sweep the series regardless of which quarterback is playing on the other side. However, several of the matchups have been close and were decided in the final minute or final play.
This year, a key matchup will be Derrick Henry and the run game against the Bengals’ upgraded defensive front. If Lawrence and Co. can stifle Henry on early downs, it will be much harder to put up video game point totals, such as the 76 combined points the Ravens scored against Cincinnati in two games in 2024.
After several public complaints, the Bengals finally get their wish of playing at home for this year’s primetime game against the Ravens, who will travel to Cincinnati for a New Year’s Eve battle in Week 17. While things change quickly in the NFL, that game feels like a potential decider for the AFC North title.
Season prediction: 10-7, second in AFC North
There’s one too many projections in play to expect this team will play consistently enough to win the division. The defense still has many questions. Is a Pro Bowl season from Lawrence enough to cover the holes behind him? With Trey Hendrickson now in Baltimore, who can be counted on to bring pressure off the edge?
The offense will fly around and score points, but Bengals fans will have their fingers constantly crossed that Burrow will stay healthy for four months. And even though their schedule projects to be easier this season, their reward for finishing third in the AFC North last year and playing a “third-place schedule” this year is a December game against the Kansas City Chiefs, who finished third in the AFC West.
The Bengals will improve significantly from their 6-11 record last year, but a four-win bump seems like a fair estimate. If Burrow starts 17 games, the defense improves to even a top-20 unit and the team finds ways to win games late rather than letting them slip away, they can compete for the division and even a high seed in the AFC playoff picture. But for now, we have three years of recent history that tells us otherwise.
See Also: 2026 AFC North Preview: Cleveland Browns
Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox