On Sunday, September 13, the Cincinnati Bengals will kick off the regular season against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Paycor Stadium.
Both teams failed to make the postseason in 2025 after entering the season with playoff aspirations.
However, despite Cincinnati having its worst record since 2020 in 2025, they enter the 2026 season with the highest expectations in some time. And those expectations appear to be for good reason. Now, one analyst has included the Cincinnati Bengals in one of his boldest predictions for the upcoming season.
Cincinnati Bengals Get Bold Prediction
Fox Sports’ Henry McKenna revealed his list of bold predictions ahead of the upcoming 2026 NFL season. Among those was his prediction that the Cincinnati Bengals would earn the No. 1 seed in the AFC.
McKenna wrote: “They invested in their defense by trading for three-time Pro Bowl tackle Dexter Lawrence and signing DT Jonathan Allen, edge Boye Mafe and safety Bryan Cook in free agency. And in a way, that was the Bengals investing in Joe Burrow — because he’s gotten killed trying to keep breakneck pace with his putrid defense (after years of getting killed behind his crappy offensive line).
Now, it feels like the Bengals have finally turned a corner. They kept Burrow’s weapons on offense. They’ve built a half-decent offensive line. And simultaneously, they’ve invested in defensive playmakers.
It seems like Cincinnati might be excellent this year. It seems like Cincinnati can legitimately contend for a Super Bowl for the first time since … well, since the Bengals made the Super Bowl.”
The Cincinnati Bengals have not had the No. 1 seed in the AFC since the 1988 season. That season, Cincinnati made the Super Bowl, but lost against the San Francisco 49ers.
In 2022, when Cincinnati last made the playoffs and reached the AFC Championship, the team had the No. 3 seed. In 2021, Cincinnati held the No. 4 seed during their run to the Super Bowl.
During those runs, the Bengals proved themselves capable of winning playoff games on the road. However, earning a bye week and home-field advantage throughout the postseason would certainly help Cincinnati’s chances of making the Super Bowl.
Cincinnati Bengals Expectations
As McKenna mentioned, Cincinnati invested heavily in their defense, and those moves were made with the goal of returning to the postseason and competing for a championship.
Last season, Cincinnati had a top-10 offense, even though they missed quarterback Joe Burrow for a majority of the season. Now, with an improved defense, the team should be among the AFC’s best.
Quarterback Joe Burrow is among those with high expectations for this Bengals team. While speaking with Ja’Marr Chase on Chase’s new podcast, Burrow said of his expectations for 2026, “I just want to win this year. I just want to win. The rest will take care of itself. We’ll break a bunch of records eventually, but I think we’re going to have a really good team that has a chance to win every game that we step foot on the field for. I don’t know about you, but I could really feel it in my bones (and) in my soul in OTAs this year − different from years past.”
Cincinnati Bengals Handed Strong Prediction Ahead of Week 1