Bucs football will make its long-awaited return Sunday afternoon. Fresh off signing quarterback Baker Mayfield to a big-money contract extension through 2029 and solving one of the offseason’s biggest hangups, Tampa Bay will get the 2026 season going in Cincinnati against Joe Burrow and the Bengals.

Todd Bowles and Co. are no strangers to winning starts, as the Bucs are 4-0 in Week 1 under Bowles. In fact, they’re 8-0 under Bowles in Weeks 1 and 2, so there’s plenty of reason to believe the fifth-year head coach will have his team ready to go for its season opener once again.

The fact that this game comes on the road isn’t new, either, as three of Bowles’ four Week 1 wins as Tampa Bay’s head coach have been away from home — at Dallas in 2022, at Minnesota in 2023 and at Atlanta in 2025.

Meanwhile, Zac Taylor and the Bengals will be searching for another start similar to the one they got in 2025 when they started 2-0. Prior to that, Cincinnati started 0-2 in 2022, 2023 and 2024, giving Taylor’s team a reputation for starting slowly. Burrow and the starting offense got preseason reps this year in hopes of getting off to a faster start in 2026, and now it’s time to see if that adjusted strategy pays off.

This is a big year for both the Bucs and the Bengals, so both sides can hardly afford to start 0-1.

Here’s a general preview of Sunday’s game between Tampa Bay and Cincinnati at Paycor Stadium.

The Last Time…

The Bucs and Bengals last met in December of 2022, one week before Christmas. Tampa Bay got out to a 17-0 start thanks to a couple of Tom Brady touchdowns, and the lead was 17-3 heading into halftime. But Cincinnati turned it around from there.

Joe Burrow threw four second-half touchdowns as the Bengals rallied and beat the Bucs rather comfortably, securing a 34-23 win that got them to 10-4 and sent Brady and Co. to 6-8.

Bucs HC Todd Bowles, Bengals QB Joe Burrow and Bengals WR Ja’Marr Chase – Photo by: IMAGN Images – Kareem Elgazzar

Burrow was 27-of-39 for 200 yards, four touchdowns and an interception on the afternoon, with those touchdowns going to Tee Higgins, Tyler Boyd, Ja’Marr Chase and Mitchell Wilcox.

Meanwhile, Brady was 30-of-44 for 312 yards and three touchdowns. But he also threw two interceptions and lost two fumbles, resulting in Tampa Bay losing the turnover battle 4-1 and seeing a 17-0 lead turn into a 34-0 Bengals run.

This will be the 14th regular season meeting all-time between the Bucs and Bengals, with the Bucs currently holding a 7-6 advantage. Tampa Bay has won five of its eight games at Cincinnati over the years, including four of the last five.

How The Bucs And Bengals Are Trending

The 2026 season will be critical for both the Bucs and Bengals. These are two teams desperate to find some success not just in the regular season but come playoff time, making a Week 1 matchup between them that much more interesting. Both will be looking to get off to winning starts as they look to return to the playoffs.

On the Bucs side of things, this is a group that saw a 6-2 start in 2025 turn into an 8-9 finish. That 2-7 stretch to finish the season cost Tampa Bay its pursuit of a five-peat as NFC South champions, with Carolina taking the division instead. Not only did the division title streak stop at four for the Bucs, but their playoff appearance streak ended at five years.

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: IMAGN – Jim Dedmon

The bad vibes from that closing stretch only got worse early in the offseason when franchise icon Mike Evans turned down a bigger contract offer from Tampa Bay to continue his career out in San Francisco, ending his 12-year tenure in red, white and pewter. Soon after, the Bucs lost another legend, with linebacker Lavonte David calling it a career after 14 seasons with the team.

The free agency period appeared to be a relatively fruitful one for Jason Licht, Todd Bowles and those within the halls at One Buc Place, as they re-signed Cade Otton and added Kenny Gainwell, Alex Anzalone, A’Shawn Robinson and Al-Quadin Muhammad, among others. But the losses of Evans and David still hung over the offseason.

Things changed on draft weekend. When Rueben Bain Jr. fell to the Bucs at No. 15, that felt like the turning point of the team’s offseason. Landing Josiah Trotter, Ted Hurst III and Keionte Scott in the next three rounds only helped matters.

Then, as much as the outside world wanted to paint a picture of bad vibes around Tampa when training camp began with contract disputes for both Vita Vea and Baker Mayfield, it never became a crisis for those in the building. Eventually, the team inked Vea to an extension and on Tuesday, they extended Mayfield’s contract, satisfying its franchise quarterback heading into the 2026 season.

Bucs GM Jason Licht and DT Vita Vea – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Now, it’s put up or shut up time. Bowles still feels like a coach firmly on the hot seat given his 35-33 record over four seasons, his two first-round exits out of three playoff appearances and four straight years of prolonged losing stretches at some point in the season. Bowles needs to get the Bucs back to the top of the division in 2026 and then guide them to a deep run in the playoffs. Otherwise, this could be the end of the line

As for the Bengals, Zac Taylor is in the same hot seat conversation as Todd Bowles is. The Bengals have been stuck in recent seasons after a Super Bowl appearance in 2021 and a 12-4 2022 season that ended in the AFC Championship Game. Back-to-back 9-8, playoff-less seasons in 2023 and 2024 preceded a 6-11 campaign in 2025.

It felt somewhat fortunate for Taylor to survive the offseason of coaching changes in the AFC North. John Harbaugh? Out in Baltimore. Mike Tomlin? Out in Pittsburgh. Kevin Stefanski? Out in Cleveland. But Taylor is still around, though 2026 feels like his last chance.

Bengals WR Ja’Marr Chase and HC Zac Taylor – Photo by: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

It would help Taylor and the Bengals offense a whole lot if Joe Burrow can stay healthy this season. As elite as he’s been when he’s on the field, the 2020 No. 1 overall pick missed seven games in 2023 and nine last year. A healthy year from him would go a long way, as the Cincinnati offense is set up to once again lead the way for this team.

Having Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins out wide and Chase Brown in the backfield is a great setup for Burrow and the offense. The biggest question mark remains the Bengals offensive line and its ability — or inability — to protect the face of the franchise.

The Bengals defense has been a big reason for the team’s shortcomings in recent years, too, though some big moves were made this offseason. They traded for Dexter Lawrence and signed Jonathan Allen and Boye Mafe, which should help to shore up a run defense that ranked dead last a year ago and a pass rush that needs to improve. The secondary remains a question mark going into this season as well, which puts a lot of pressure on Burrow and the offense to maintain their high-scoring ways.

Here’s how the two teams stacked up with the rest of the league last season:

Bucs Offense: T-17th in scoring offense (22.4 PPG), 21st in total offense (320.4 yards per game), 20th in passing offense (205.9 yards per game), 21st in rushing offense (114.5 yards per game)

Bengals Offense: 12th in scoring offense (24.4 PPG), 17th in total offense (329.2 yards per game), 6th in passing offense (235.6 yards per game), 29th in rushing offense (93.6 yards per game)

Bucs Defense: T-20th in scoring defense (24.2 points allowed per game), 19th in total defense (337.2 yards allowed per game), 27th in passing defense (238.2 yards allowed per game), 5th in run defense (99.1 yards allowed per game)

Bengals Defense: 30th in scoring defense (28.9 points allowed per game), 31st in total defense (380.9 yards allowed per game), 26th in passing defense (233.8 yards allowed per game), 32nd in run defense (147.1 yards allowed per game)

As of Wednesday, the Bengals are 3.5-point home favorites over the Bucs with an Over/Under set at 50.5 (per Hard Rock Bet).

Bucs at Bengals Game Information

When: Sunday, September 13
Where: Paycor Stadium (Cincinnati, OH)
Kickoff: 1:00 p.m. ET
TV: FOX – Kevin Kugler (Play by Play), Daryl Johnston (Analyst), Allison Williams (Reporter)
Bucs Radio: 98Rock – Tony Castricone (Play by Play), Dave Moore (Color), Jay Recher (Reporter)
Spanish Radio: 96.1 Caliente – Martín Gramática, Santiago Gramática