On To Cincinnati
September 8th, 2026
Not worried about past records.
So yesterday when the Bucs had what the team referred to as a “bonus” practice, all the ca-ca about training camp and who will or won’t make the 53-man roster and all that was out the window.
Week 1 of the 2026 season is here. The focus was on Cincinnati and Todd Bowles was asked about how much time he has spent on the Bengals.
Some coaches start in the spring working on a Week 1 opponent in each practice, at least a little bit.
Bowles didn’t disagree that he’s had his mind on the Bengals for a while but he said he doesn’t stay awake all hours of the night watching Cincinnati tape. You know, paralysis by analysis? Instead, Bowles likes to emphasize his team’s work that he can somewhat control.
Bowles knows how to get his team ready for a season. In every year Bowles has guided the Bucs, the team has gone 2-0 to begin the season (last year they jumped out to a 3-0 record).
The same cannot be said for Zac Taylor in Cincinnati. The Bengals coach has won just two season-openers in his seven seasons. And last year was the first time Taylor’s Bengals won their first two games of the season. (It all went to hell after that, with the Bengals losing 10 of their next 12 games. Joe Burrow was hurt for half of those games. He was 3-3 as a starter to close the season.)
Speaking yesterday before the local pen and mic club, Bowles dismissed all those numbers.
“I don’t think you can put too much stock in it,” Bowles said. “Every year is a different year. We just got off to a good start the past couple, and obviously it means nothing going into this game on Sunday.
“So we got to prepare like we need to prepare and play like we got to play.”
This Bengals opening-day stats might be a little different if Taylor was 0-6 in Week 1 games. He’s not. And, one could argue that the law of averages will catch up to Bowles sooner or later in Week 1.
While Bowles is 4-0 in Week 1 games with the Bucs, he’s also winless against the AFC North.
Joe believes Bowles is right. If the cornerbacks of the Bucs don’t play high-level football on Sunday guarding Ja’Marr and Tee Higgins, Joe Burrow will have a field day.
September 8th, 2026 at 6:45 am
We will see what we have on defense. A real test.
September 8th, 2026 at 6:55 am
The D line play is more important than the secondary. Chase and Higgins will get theirs no matter what. Burrow is one of the few pocket passers left that still have success. Problem for Burrows though is the Bengals offensive line isn’t good enough to keep ANYONE upright all game. The hit Burrows took in preseason (in the very short time he played) was crazy. Collapse the pocket and hit him a few times. Box up both him and Chase Brown and I like our chances. Even a high school QB will eat up a secondary if there is no pressure.
September 8th, 2026 at 6:59 am
“Every year is a different year.” — the official slogan of every fan trying to forget last season.
September 8th, 2026 at 7:02 am
Law of averages and all that. (Read: no jinx, no jinx,,,]
September 8th, 2026 at 7:20 am
Law of averages vs. a true trend for both teams. Interesting stuff
September 8th, 2026 at 7:32 am
i got an idea: score lots of touchdowns!!!
September 8th, 2026 at 7:34 am
Like I mentioned in the storming the field article, I hope Todd dusts off that 3 safety defense he used so well against Mahomes in the Super Bowl and try getting pressure with just 4. It will be a real long game for Cincy if we can use that!
September 8th, 2026 at 8:00 am
StPeteMatt … Bucs only have 3 Safeties, and 1 of them is Killebrew. He’s good for an old-timer, but I really don’t want to see him trying to defend any of the Cincy receivers.
I’m really hoping that our 4-man rush works so well that Cincy is forced to keep 1-2 additional defenders in there to protect Burrows. And if they start doing that repeatedly, I’m really hoping that Bowles turns all 3 DLinemen & the 2 OLBs loose on him.
I don’t think this Cincy offense can successfully defend against Vea, Robinson, Kancey, Bain & Diaby. Burrows will be forced to stick with the short stuff, and with 6 defenders back, we can successfully keep Burrows from putting drives together.
September 8th, 2026 at 8:20 am
35-20 Cincy
Todd is still confused or just doesn’t care about scheming to limit teams from passing all over this defense. Good QB’s are going to feast against this defense ALL year long
September 8th, 2026 at 8:20 am
It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.
Bowles cannot finish. His starts don’t lead to anything except worthless NFCS titles.
In a putrid division he’s top of the turd pile, except for last year when he couldn’t win a sub .500 division.
That is the measure of his resolve.
September 8th, 2026 at 8:21 am
DR — Keionte Scott, while listed a nickel, plays like a safety. Yes, an incredibly fast one but still with some coverage flaws. In that respect he’s much like Trotter, whose newfound coverage excellence has not yet been seen by Buc fan eyes. So we may well have a variant of the 3-safety look even without that name on the position.
BTW it’s likely that Bowles has different views of what makes a good player at particular positions. Until he went off the rails White, while not a good coverage linebacker, was at least average, and was very good going downhill. Remind anyone of Trotter? And Bowles looks to prefer smaller safeties along with taller corners. Something has to give this year as our corners are shorter and our safeties — at least the reserves and alternates — are larger. Or maybe just average size, but still.
September 8th, 2026 at 8:22 am
The best way to defend the Bengals offense to to keep them off the field. I think the real key to this game is the Bucs ability to run the ball and convert on 3rd downs.
September 8th, 2026 at 8:25 am
Since we often rotate into it, Scott would be the logical choice.
September 8th, 2026 at 8:27 am
And yes, we should be able to run through the Bengals like laser diarrhea. 200+ yards rushing. 500 total yards. Lots of points.
September 8th, 2026 at 8:34 am
One thing I will say about Todd is that when we’ve had great play from the edge, we’ve had great defensive play.
September 8th, 2026 at 9:09 am
@ATLBuc
That is false, the Bucs had an edge rusher in 2019 who had 19.5 sacks and opponents still passed at will against this scheme. Who cares if you can be great at stopping the run when teams can pass willingly all over the field on you
September 8th, 2026 at 9:18 am
Cincy fan here…a few things to note…the Cincy o-line is better than what been written in these comments. Looks at stats from last year. As for all the hits he took in pre season? He took all of one. As for Tampa trying to run the ball and keep Cincy off the field? I look forward to watching Dexter Lawrence and bj Jill having a good game stopping the run. Last, Burrow only needs maybe 2 seconds before the ball is out of his hands. I’d imagine between Chase, Higgins, Brown, Gisecki and probably a few others will get some catches. I’m biased of course but I see a final score looking something like 31-17, with Cincy getting the W.
September 8th, 2026 at 9:24 am
Hope Graham Barton is ready for Dexter Lawrence – who has just been named one of Bengals team captains. Read: dude is motivated this year.
Sunday will be a slugfest.
Giddy-up!!!
September 8th, 2026 at 10:09 am
John, appreciate your optimism for your team but Burrow was sacked once and hit hard twice. He only had 13 snaps the entire preseason, so he was pressured on almost 25% of the throws he made. Your offensive line may be better in 2026, but it didn’t show up during limited time they were on the field.
September 8th, 2026 at 10:39 am
I wanna know where this BJ Jill is Cincy fan?
Do you guys pass her around after loses?
September 8th, 2026 at 11:56 am
@ John,the big question youve forgotten..Can the all – world china doll Burrow play a full season I bet no!
September 8th, 2026 at 12:07 pm
@John, Having a family member of the AFC North,watching what cosmob calls a ” Swiss cheese” defense that Cincys has had in the past ,I bet tampa will put up 150 yards rushing .. tampa’s oline in no joke.
September 8th, 2026 at 2:24 pm
Pass rush is Key for this D. If we can get pressure on Burrow early and often we have a good shot. AND our offense needs to reward the D for stops by sustaining some drives.