The Cincinnati Bengals are starting the 2026 season exactly the way they wanted. Cincinnati is 2-0 to start the year after authoring an impressive 20-6 victory over Houston on Sunday. It is natural to want to give praise to Cincinnati's offense after a game like this. After all, Ja'Marr Chase was hauling in highlight reel catches and Joe Burrow was gutting out a rib injury.
But the Bengals defense is now pulling its own weight this season.
Unlike in past seasons, Cincinnati's defense is asserting their will against their opponents. The Bengals shut down the Buccaneers in Week 1 and were even more smothering against C.J. Stroud and the Texans.
This huge development has everyone excited about how successful the Bengals could be this season. It could even be a special year where they can finally make another deep playoff run.
Burrow looks absolutely right that Cincinnati can make the Super Bowl this year now that their defensive is much improved.
Can the Bengals make it to the Super Bowl during the 2026 NFL season?
Burrow claimed that this is a âÂÂnow or neverâ season back in August. His defense has risen to occasion, giving fans hope that the sky is the limit this season.
The Bengals have proven throughout their first two games that their defense is more than dependable. That unit is good enough to set the offense up in favorable situations, making it easy for them to score points.
At this point in the season, Cincinnati has already forced eight sacks and four forced fumbles in addition to scoring one defensive touchdown. They lead the NFL in sacks and are in the top 10 in points allowed per game after two weeks.
All of this is a far cry from the team that allowed 28.9 points per game (30th in NFL) last season.
It really is hard to overstate how important of a change this is for Cincinnati. The Bengals have delivered multiple consecutive seasons where Joe Burrow and the offense are incredible, but the defense is subpar. Cincinnati's offense is just as dangerous as it's ever been, but they finally have a defense to match.
Cincinnati has a pretty favorable schedule on paper that should help them keep this momentum rolling. The Bengals face the Steelers, Jaguars, and Dolphins over the next three weeks before their Week 6 bye. Fans would be right to expect the Bengals to enter their bye with, at maximum, one loss.
After that, the Bengals also have two divisional matchups against the Browns and winnable games against the Titans, Falcons, Commanders, Colts, and Panthers on their schedule. All of those sound like more potential wins.
Unless something drastic changes, the Bengals look well on their way to a playoff berth in 2026.
It will be fascinating to see how Cincinnati looks when going up against elite teams like Baltimore and Kansas City later this season. Those could be the real tests that decide this season.
But until then, Bengals fans should feel thrilled that this season already feels like a special one.