After an offseason of major additions by the Cincinnati Bengals, those moves appeared to pay off during the team’s Week 1 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Cincinnati’s defense, which struggled mightily in 2025, appeared much improved as they created constant pressure on Tampa Bay quarterback Baker Mayfield and forced turnovers that led to an early Bengals lead.
While most of the team’s additions made their mark, Dexter Lawrence’s impact was felt; however, it was not registered on the stat sheet. Now, ahead of their Week 2 matchup against the Houston Texans, one analyst has called on Lawrence to “step up” ahead of the team’s game against Houston.
Cincinnati Bengals Dexter Lawrence Told To Step Up
Bengals on SI’s Zach Pressnell included defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence among the players who needed to step up for Cincinnati during their team’s Week 2 game on Sunday.
Presnell wrote: “Lawrence didn’t fill up the stat sheet in the Bengals’ victory over the Bucs, but he impacted the game in different ways. Lawrence was generating pressure and wreaking havoc in the backfield for a majority of the contest despite not posting a sack. He’s going to need to make CJ Stroud’s life very difficult if the Bengals defense is going to have a chance of slowing down the Texans offense. Stroud played well last week, and the Texans were able to generate a solid push at the goal line for a pair of David Montgomery touchdowns. Lawrence needs to shut this down on Sunday.”
Despite not registering a sack or a tackle in the game, the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Pat Brennan described Lawrence’s performance as “dominant.” Brennan wrote: “The presence of the 6-foot-5, 350-pounder was still immense. That started with Lawrence winning his individual matchup in the trenches 36% of the time, according to PFF. That was the best percentage among defensive linemen in the NFL for Week 1.
On the scoop-and-score fumble recovery in the first quarter, Lawrence cleared a path for Demetrius Knight Jr. to collect the ball when he slid into the pileup around the ball, cutting off the nearest Tampa Bay player in the area. It was crucial to springing Knight on the Bengals’s first defensive touchdown of 2026.
Tampa Bay had some success in the run game, but they juked and spun away from Lawrence frequently. Often times, that meant sliding straight into the arms of another Bengals tackler”
Zac Taylor’s Comments on Dexter Lawrence
Regarding Lawrence’s performance, Taylor confirmed that stats did not back up his impact, as he said, “Honestly, stats don’t mean too much because he wrecks the game as soon the week starts and offensive coordinators have to prepare for the week. Just having him in the middle, being a stump in the middle, creating a push — that’s not a stat line, but he’s creating a push all game. That’s exactly what we were looking for.”
Against a Texans team that scored 31 points during their season opener against the Buffalo Bills, Dexter Lawrence must once again make an impact if Cincinnati wants to start out 2-0 for the second consecutive season.
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