Week 1: vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers

SEPT. 13, 1 P.M.

MATCHUP TO WATCH

It's the 11th time in its 26 years Paycor Stadium has hosted a game pitting two overall No. 1 quarterbacks. The Bengals' Joe Burrow and the Bucs' Baker Mayfield have been in four of them, and this is their first opener.

Burrow got him back on Nov. 6, 2022 when he was playing for Carolina in a game the Bengals owned, 42-21. Backed by running back Joe Mixon's franchise-record five touchdowns, Burrow was a deadly 22 of 28. Mayfield didn't miss much either (14 of 20 for two touchdowns), but the Bengals held him to 155 yards.

REMEMBER WHEN?

Burrow made his NFL debut on this day in 2020 against the Chargers, but Paycor Stadium had 0.0 fans at the height of COVID. If it hadn't been for an iffy flag on A.J. Green with seven seconds left for illegal use of hands to wipe away the winning touchdown pass, what a script co-written by one franchise icon handing the torch to the next.

Speaking of Bengals icons, Pro Football Hall of Famer Anthony Munoz made his Bengals debut at Riverfront Stadium in the 1980 opener against Tampa Bay.

Week 2: at Houston Texans

SEPT. 20, 1 P.M.

MATCHUP TO WATCH

The Texans' elite defensive line that re-loaded with the drafting of Ohio State defensive tackle Kayden McDonald in the second round against the Bengals emerging offensive line. Will Anderson and Danielle Hunter put pressure on the tackles in head coach DeMeco Ryans' wide-9, and old friend Sheldon Rankins and a host of other tackles plug-and-play for a defense that finished second overall.

The Bengals' Orlando Brown Jr. and Amarius Mims, who have the most snaps of any tandem blocking one-on-one in the league, bring in a line that has the most consistency and effectiveness of any Bengals O-line in the eight years of the Zac Taylor Era. With the same group returning that in the last 12 games of last season had the league's fourth-lowest sack percentage to go with an upper half of the league yards per rush, they hope to still have that momentum rolling into early this season.

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The last time the Bengals were in Houston, their final road game of 2020, they foreshadowed the next year's Super Bowl run. Rookie wide receiver Tee Higgins caught 99 yards, running back Samaje Perine had a combined 146 yards and defensive end Sam Hubbard sealed the 37-31 win with 1:28 left on a sack-strip of Deshaun Watson.

Week 3: at Pittsburgh Steelers

SEPT. 27, 1 P.M.

MATCHUP TO WATCH

The Bengals catching the Steelers early could accentuate the arrival of the big man Dexter Lawrence II, as well as the other additions along the Bengals defensive front. It may take Pittsburgh that long to get the left side of its offensive line together. Left tackle Broderick Jones is coming off surgery, left guard Isaac Seumalo left in free agency, and there is talk of various options. Among them are moving guards to new sides and plugging in first-round pick Max Iheanachor at right tackle.

REMEMBER WHEN?

On Sept. 26, 2021, the Bengals emerged from a pivotal Week Three win in Pittsburgh in which they exorcised a host of demons when the first win over the Steelers in the Burrow Era got them to 2-1, gave them Burrow's first road win ever and set the stage for winning the division. Burrow's 34-yard touchdown pass with 27 seconds left in the first half to rookie wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase took the air out of the hostility in a 24-10 win that ended Pittsburgh's NFL record streak of 75 straight games with a sack.

Week 4: vs Jacksonville Jaguars

OCT. 4, 1 P.M.

MATCHUP TO WATCH

It may be the 12th Paycor game ever to feature two overall quarterback No. 1 picks (the Jags' Trevor Lawrence), but this one may be decided by a fifth-round pick. Bengals running back Chase Brown faces a 13-win defense that allowed 3.9 yards per rush for the second fewest in the league. A little bit of room could be key against a defensive front that finished with the fourth fewest sacks in the league as Brown comes off a career-year with highs in per rush (4.4) and yards, (1,019).

REMEMBER WHEN?

Burrow rung up his first career victory six years to the time and place against these Jags. He ripped off a 300-yard game on 69% passing in the 33-25 victory.

Then, a year later at Paycor in another Week Four matchup, this one on Thursday night, Burrow mastered the Jags again. This time he outdueled Lawrence for a last-snap rookie Evan McPherson field goal set up by Burrow's famous "You can't zero me," throw to tight end C.J. Uzomah in the face of an all-out blitz.

Week 5: at Miami Dolphins

OCT. 11, 1 P.M.

MATCHUP TO WATCH

They get an untried quarterback early with a first-round rookie tackle (Kadyn Proctor) protecting him. This stands to be Dolphins quarterback Malik Willis' 11^th NFL start. Not exactly rookie quarterback Quinn Ewers' first NFL start like last year against the Bengals, which was a turnover fest. But linebacker Barrett Carter may have that same mindset from that game: "At halftime, Zac said we needed to get turnovers … He challenged us to take the ball away and challenged the offense to keep the ball. We just had to come out swinging."

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If it seems like the Bengals were just here, they were. In their last road game of 2025. And it wasn't pretty for the hosts in the last days of the Mike McDaniel regime.

In a 45-21 win, Burrow sifted the best road passer rating game in Bengals history (146.5) with four touchdowns as the offense transformed four straight Dolphins turnovers in the third quarter into four touchdowns to produce their most points since the 49-9 win over the Jets in 2013.

Week 7: at Baltimore Ravens

OCT. 25, 1 P.M.

MATCHUP TO WATCH

Of course, it has to be Bengals left tackle and captain Orlando Brown Jr., renewing his massive training camp battles with Trey Hendrickson. The most successful free agent in Bengals history who went to three Pro Bowls and won an NFL sack title during his five-year run here, Hendrickson no doubt has a lot he wants to show the team where he came of age.

Brown, as a one-time member of the Chiefs, knows all about those battles with Hendrickson when they counted. One of them, in the AFC title game the Bengals won with the help of Hendrickson's 1.5 sacks, influenced his ensuing offseason regimens.

"There were times in that AFC Championship we lost where I was tired," Brown told Bengals.com last month. "Trey was in better shape. I told myself l never wanted to get that feeling again."

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With only an NFL schedule-maker's wry irony, the Bengals' first day game at M&T Bank Stadium in five years comes nearly to the day of the last one, a 41-17 Cincy win.

Or, as Oct. 24, 2021, is known around these parts, "The Calling Card Game," on the run to the Super Bowl. They handed Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson his first loss as a starting quarterback in six games against the Bengals in Ja’Marr Chase’s coming-out party. He snagged 201 of Burrow's 416 yards, including the spin into invisibility on his 82-yard touchdown catch-and-run that remains the longest play of his career.

Oct. 25 is a good day in Bengals' history for points. It's the 17th anniversary of the Ced Bowl, when running back Cedric Benson ruined his old team with 189 yards in a 45-10 win over the Bears at Paycor.

Week 8: vs. Tennessee Titans

NOV. 1, 1 P.M.

MATCHUP TO WATCH

OK, the third straight Paycor game pitting No. 1 overall quarterbacks. It's also the Bengals' first look at Cam Ward as he eases in the fourth pick of this draft, Ohio State wide receiver Carnell Tate. But it won't be decided there in another nice test for the O-line. Pass-rushing defensive tackle John Franklin-Myers, a Bengals' free-agent target, joins forces with the estimable Pro Bowl D-Tackle Jeffery Simmons and first-round edge Keldric Faulk.

REMEMBER WHEN?

Another 2020 mirror image at Paycor thanks to the calendar. Against these Titans, Burrow enhanced his growing rookie reputation with another 70% game and two touchdowns against a respected Tennessee defensive front that couldn't handle a revamped Bengals O-line with Fred Johnson making his first NFL start at right tackle, Hakeem Adeniji making his first at left tackle, and guard Quinton Spain playing 62 snaps despite showing up on Friday.

The last time the two met, in Tennessee in 2024, the Bengals easily beat Zac Taylor disciple Brian Callahan's club on a day best remembered as Bengals defensive end Sam Hubbard's last play before he retired. A leaping, juggling touchdown catch on Burrow's goal-line flip that resulted in Hubbard's knee injury.

Week 9: at Atlanta Falcons (Madrid)

NOV. 2, 9:30 A.M.

MATCHUP TO WATCH

It's been 51 games, 13 interceptions, three pick-sixes and a Pro Bowl, and safety Jessie Bates III has to go all the way to Spain to finally play the team that drafted him eight years ago. Burrow is going to keep a good eye on him. If Burrow has spent the 2020s becoming the most accurate passer in NFL history, Bates and Justin Simmons share the most interceptions of the decade with 21.

REMEMBER WHEN?

In the 2016 War of Wembley that produced the first overtime in the 10-year history of the NFL's international series in Cincinnati's first ever overseas appearance, the Bengals and Washington finished knotted at 27 in a matchup of Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis and his old offensive coordinator Jay Gruden. Gruden, the Washington head man, saw old student A.J. Green, show the empire he was one of the best receivers of the decade with a clinic against elite cornerback Josh Norman. Green had nine catches for 121 yards and drew five penalties against the Washington secondary.

Week 10: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

NOV. 15, 8:20 P.M.

MATCHUP TO WATCH

The Steelers took a page out of the Bengals' playbook during the offseason and found another big Cincy-type receiver (6-4 Tee Higgins, 6-6 Mike Gesicki, 6-3 Andrei Iosivas, 6-1ish Ja’Marr Chase) to team with 6-4 DK Metcalf. They traded for the 6-4 Michael Pittman to give them a different look, not to mention drafted in the second round 6-1 Germie Bernard out of Alabama. The Bengals, who have watched their big guys dominate people, countered in the third round with 6-4 Tacario Davis out of Washington.

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Some solace for no bye today. The game comes 17 years to the day of one of the Bengals' biggest wins in the series in The War of 18-12 against the defending Super Bowl champion Steelers. In a Dave Lapham Slobernocker of fewer than a combined 500 yards, they completed a sweep of Pittsburgh on the way to sweeping the AFC North. The Bengals scored the only touchdown on rookie running back Bernard Scott's kick return while Mike Zimmer's defense stoned Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger on 10 straight third downs and sacked him four times to go with four Shayne Graham field goals.

Week 11: at Washington Commanders

NOV. 23, 8:15 P.M.

MATCHUP TO WATCH

Bengals vet defensive tackle Jonathan Allen comes home to where he was a mainstay for eight seasons through 42 sacks and two Pro Bowls as one of the league's best pass-rushing tackles. With quarterback Jayden Daniels' 66.6 completion percentage, they don't want him patting the ball, and Allen is looking to penetrate against two solid guards, Sam Cosmi and Nick Allegretti. With the formidable Laremy Tunsil at left tackle, the Bengals would like to hit the inside.

REMEMBER WHEN?

In another Monday nighter on Sept. 23, 2024, in front of one of the biggest crowds in Paycor history, Burrow, the most accurate quarterback in NFL history, staged an unforgettable duel with fellow LSU product and Heisman Trophy winner Daniels in the first NFL game to feature no punts or turnovers. In his third NFL start, Daniels hit 21 of 23 passes for 91% to set the rookie accuracy record. Burrow outgunned him with 324 yards and three touchdowns for a nifty 76% himself as the Commanders prevailed, 33-31.

Week 12: vs New Orleans Saints

NOV. 29, 1 P.M.

MATCHUP TO WATCH

The Bengals secondary gets the call here against the Saints' talented trio of Chris Olave, Jordyn Tyson and Devaughn Vele. They'll be factors with quarterback Tyler Slough playing solid under the eye of head coach Kellen Moore. Throw in a rookie match of third-rounders: Bengals cornerback Tacario Davis and the Saints' pick from Georgia, tight end Oscar Delp.

REMEMBER WHEN?

Talk about the Way Back Machine. It is 56 years to the day at Riverfront Stadium that Paul Brown's Baby Bengals, in just their third season, crushed the Saints, 26-6, for their record fourth straight victory and found themselves in a three-way tie on top of the division. On the way to their incredible seven-game winning streak that gave them the first AFC Central Division title in the first season of the NFL merger, All-Pro linebacker Bill Bergey recovered a fumble on the second snap of a game that is the first where the Bengals didn't allow a touchdown. It's three weeks after the Saints' Tom Dempsey kicked his record 63-yard field goal, and Dempsey's two field goals are all the Bengals give them.

The last time the teams met, there were a lot more fireworks in Chase's return home to New Orleans on Oct. 16, 2022. With the Bengals trailing, his 60-yard-catch-and-go touchdown from Burrow with 1:57 left got them the win and capped his 132-yard day and 30-26 win.

WEEK 13: at Cleveland Browns

DEC. 6, 1 P.M.

MATCHUP TO WATCH

Another division challenge for the Bengals secondary, but it has experience on its side. Like the Steelers, the Browns are deploying a different look at wideout with their top two draft picks, first-rounder KC Concepcion, bandied to be a slippery Zay Flowers-Emmanuel Sanders-YAC type, and second-rounder Denzel Boston, a rugged 6-4, 209-pounder. Boston is going to have his hands full on the outside against the seasoned cornerback duo of DJ Turner II and Dax Hill. The Bengals are still working out the slot and that could be a key in this game because the 5-11, 190-pound Concepcion seems to be ticketed inside quite a bit.

REMEMBER WHEN?

The last time the Bengals went to Cleveland, Opening Day 2025, Joe Flacco was the Browns quarterback, and Bengals safety Jordan Battle of Ohio had a huge interception for one of his three career picks against the Browns that led to the win.

Flacco, now the Bengals backup, was there because quarterback Deshaun Watson tore his Achilles' on a non-contact play in the second quarter of the Bengals' 21-14 win in Cleveland on Oct. 20, 2024.

Eleven years to the day during the Bengals' run to the 2015 AFC North title, they eased to a 37-3 win in Cleveland when A.J. Green caught 128 yards, Jeremy Hill ran for 98, and Reggie Nelson had another division pick.

WEEK 14: vs. Kansas City Chiefs

DEC. 13, 4:25 P.M.

MATCHUP TO WATCH

Remember March, 2026, B.D.? Before Dexter? The Bengals were staring at Mansoor Delane with the 10th pick. Turns out he wouldn't have been there. The Chiefs traded up from No. 9 with Cleveland at No. 6 to grab the draft's consensus best cornerback.

That, of course sets up a battle of LSU then and now with the 6-0, 190-pound Delane in for the fight of his life against the 6-1, 205 pounds of iron All-Pro Ja’Marr Chase. Chase has made life miserable for Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. Chase's 439 yards in four games against KC are the most against any team not in the AFC North, and his 17.6 yards per catch is his longest against anybody he's faced more than twice. The very presence of vet Chiefs safety Bryan Cook now in the Bengals secondary reflects the revamping of a KC secondary that has been gouged by Burrow at times.

REMEMBER WHEN?

On Dec. 4, 2022 in another dusky duel at 4:25 at Paycor, it's the only time one of the four Burrow-Patrick Mahomes matchups hasn't been decided by a walk-off field goal. Burrow still had to come from behind in the fourth quarter and needed linebacker Germaine Pratt's strip of Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and his recovery at midfield to blunt KC's killer drive with a 24-20 lead.

Burrow's ensuing eight-yard pass to running back Chris Evans gave them the lead for good at 27-24, but this was the play of the day: With 72 seconds left on third-and-11, Burrow stepped up with a hellacious pass as he was getting hit. It zipped through a mail slot to Tee Higgins with a man draped all over him, and he did the rest for 14 yards and the game. No field goal needed.

Week 15: at Carolina Panthers

DEC. 20, 1 P.M.

MATCHUP TO WATCH

These two defenses went all-out to upgrade in the offseason. While the Bengals dropped about $200 million and their first two draft picks, the Panthers doled out $162 million to edge rusher Jaelan Phillips and linebacker Devin Lloyd $42M after missing the playoffs by a game. They also traded up for defense tackle Lee Hunter.

REMEMBER WHEN?

This has been a good week on the road in the guts of a playoff chase. On Dec. 19, 2021 in Denver, defensive end Khalid Kareem saved the Super Bowl season when he punched the ball out of the hands of Broncos quarterback Drew Locke in the red zone to preserve a 15-10 win.

On Dec. 18, 2022 in Tampa Bay, the Bengals defense did it again and did it against G.O.A.T Tom Brady without their top two edge rushers, No. 1 cornerback and top two slot cornerbacks. Down 17-0, they came up with four straight turnovers. Never had a Brady team blown a 17-point lead at home. It was their sixth straight win in their franchise-best 10-game winning streak.

Week 16: at Indianapolis Colts

DEC. 26-27

MATCHUP TO WATCH

Old friend Lou Anarumo, the Bengals' Super Bowl defensive coordinator, calls a game against Taylor, the man who gave him his first coordinator job in 2019. Not to mention Burrow, a guy he matched wits with in multiple training camps.

He'll have a young but speedy linebacker corps after the Colts spent two of their first four picks on backers. And he has one of his Bengals' second-round picks in cornerback Cam Taylor Britt.

REMEMBER WHEN?

The last time the Bengals went to Indy on Oct. 18, 2020, Colts quarterback Phillip Rivers was a young thing of 38 and Burrow was just easing in with his sixth NFL start. It was a classic high noon showdown of an aging gunslinger against the new kid in town. Burrow staked the Bengals to a 24-7 lead during his 313-yard effort for his fourth 300-yard game. Rivers' 371 yards prevailed, 31-27.

Week 17: vs. Baltimore Ravens

Dec. 31, 8:15 P.M.

MATCHUP TO WATCH

Let's face it. In this rivalry, for all the bombs Burrow throws and the plays Lamar Jackson makes, Bengals-Ravens comes down to the trenches, and this is the game Dexter Lawrence II was made for. A full house at Paycor giving the defense every advantage with the AFC North on the line.

The Ravens offensive line is in flux, and while they should have it in hand as 2026 becomes 2027, they don't yet. With center Tyler Linderbaum lost in free agency, the Ravens have pretty much said their center isn't on the roster yet, and whoever it is, is helping first-round pick, Penn State guard Vega Ioane, break in. The last time the Bengals defensive line was this good in 2021 and 2022, they beat the Ravens four out of five times. Three of the wins came when the Ravens didn't have Jackson, but the loss came to Jackson in Baltimore in OT.

REMEMBER WHEN?

The second New Year's Eve game ever at Paycor promises to be a rollicking Thursday night bender. When the Ravens came in here for a Week 17 game in 2021, Burrow dropped a 525-yard game on them that is still the most in the last 13 years and third most of all-time.

When the Bengals played the Ravens in Baltimore on New Year's Eve as 2017 turned to 2018, they silenced the M&T Bank revelers. Andy Dalton's fourth-and-12 bullet to Tyler Boyd for a 49- yard touchdown pass with 44 seconds left in a 31-27 victory knocked the Ravens out of the playoffs and should have put a statue of them outside the Bills' new stadium.

Week 18: vs. Cleveland Browns

Jan 9-10, 1 P.M.

MATCHUP TO WATCH

Cleveland traded with Kansas City in the first round in last month's NFL Draft, and the Bengals see the impact from both sides at Paycor in December. The Browns knew they'd get a tackle at No. 9, and it ended up they had their pick. They chose Utah left tackle Spencer Fano, and he'll be trying to get off the mark in the Paycor din against the Super Bowl edge rusher the Bengals picked up in free agent Seattle's Boye Mafe.

Fano also has to contend with the "The Wave," defensive coordinator Al Golden is concocting. Fano will also get different looks throughout the game. Golden's plans include backing up Mafe with the statuesque 270-pound Myles Murphy, the Bengals' leading sacker last year, and the quicksilver 6-2, 252-pound rookie, second-round pick Cashius Howell.

REMEMBER WHEN?

The Bengals' most important close-out game ever at home in the Battle of Ohio came on Dec. 30, 1990, when the Bengals had to win to stay alive for the AFC Central title. It was also their longest. They did their part when quarterback Boomer Esiason snapped a 14-14 game in the middle of the fourth quarter by lofting a 48-yard touchdown pass to running back Eric Ball with the Bengals future director of player relations running a perfect wheel route. The Bengals then had to wait for a night game. But not for long. Houston wasted no time beating the Steelers, 34-14, to give the Bengals the title.

Fun fact: It was the last game for Pro Football Hall of Fame tight end Ozzie Newsome, now a Ravens exec still keeping the pulse of a division's last hours.

Purchase your 2026 Bengals tickets now at bengals.com/tickets.