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8 winners and 7 losers through the Bengals’ first 5 games of the 2026 NFL season
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- 8 winners and 7 losers through the Bengals’ first 5 games of the 2026 NFL season
The Cincinnati Bengals are 3-2 heading into their Week 6 bye, and while there's been plenty to get excited about, there's also been plenty of cause for concern.
Despite their winning record, the Bengals are a far cry from the team we envisioned after their Week 2 victory in Houston. There have been some outstanding individual performances, but there have also been some glaring disappointments.
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With five games in the books, it's time to take stock of who's exceeding expectations and who's falling short.
Here are the Bengals' winners and losers through the first five weeks of the season, starting with the good.
WINNERS
Evan McPherson
McPherson has absolutely earned the nickname "Money Mac" so far this season. He's been perfect through five games, connecting on all 10 of his field-goal attempts, including a season-long 58-yarder. Incredibly, five of those 10 attempts have come from beyond 50 yards.
What's even more impressive, though, is that McPherson hasn't missed a field goal since Week 11 of the 2025 season. He's now made 22 consecutive field goals, setting a new franchise record previously held by Shayne Graham.
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Hopefully, he'll continue adding to that total and establish a record that takes a generation to break.
Amarius Mims
Mims has been outstanding at right tackle for the Bengals this season. He's currently ranked as PFF's 10th-best offensive tackle with a pass-blocking grade of 78.8, having allowed just four total pressures and one sack.
His run-blocking grade leaves a little to be desired, but let's face it: The Bengals' offense is going to run through Joe Burrow and the passing game more often than not.
Mims' ability to protect Burrow's right side has been nothing short of fantastic, and he's quickly establishing himself as one of the most important pieces of Cincinnati's offensive line.
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Boye Mafe
The Bengals appear to have struck gold in free agency at the edge rusher position once again.
Coming off a Super Bowl championship season with the Seattle Seahawks, Mafe signed a three-year deal with Cincinnati and has wasted no time making his presence felt.
He's currently tied with Byron Young for the second-most quarterback hurries in the NFL with 20, just one behind league leader Aidan Hutchinson.
Mafe has also been solid against the run, earning a respectable 75.1 run-defense grade from PFF.
Like Trey Hendrickson before him, Mafe has hit the ground running in Cincinnati. If he keeps playing at this level, his signing could go down as one of the Bengals' best offseason moves.
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Mike Gesicki
Gesicki caught four touchdown passes over his first two seasons with the Bengals.
Through five games in 2026, he's already matched that total.
It's clear opposing defenses are doing everything they can to prevent Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins from beating them. That's created opportunities for Gesicki, who has flourished in his role as a tight end/slot receiver hybrid specializing in finding open space.
With Burrow, Chase, Higgins, and Gesicki all under contract through the 2027 season, the Bengals have the makings of an offensive core that could do some serious damage in the postseason.
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Of course, they have to get there first.
Dexter Lawrence
Lawrence has been worth every bit of the No. 10 overall pick the Bengals traded to acquire him.
It's hard to imagine anyone Cincinnati could have selected with that pick making the kind of immediate impact Lawrence has had on this defense.
He's currently PFF's third-ranked interior defensive lineman with an overall defensive grade of 82.5. The two players ranked ahead of him have played only about two-thirds as many snaps as Lawrence.
He also has the third-most quarterback hurries among defensive tackles and is tied for fifth in sacks at the position.
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Lawrence is massive, disruptive, and capable of changing an opposing offense's game plan simply by lining up across from it.
He's been everything the Bengals could have hoped for when they shipped a top-10 pick to the Giants.
Jonathan Allen
Allen was somewhat overlooked among the Bengals' offseason acquisitions, largely because his arrival was overshadowed by the blockbuster trade for Lawrence.
However, he's been nearly as impressive, particularly as a pass rusher.
Through five games, Allen has recorded 10 quarterback hurries, four hits and two sacks from the interior of the defensive line, complementing Lawrence's three sacks.
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In a conference featuring Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen, and a division with Lamar Jackson and Aaron Rodgers, the Bengals need all the pass rushers they can get.
Allen and Lawrence have given Cincinnati an interior pass rush that opposing offenses simply can't afford to ignore.
Dalton Risner
Risner appears to have been the final piece of the puzzle for the Bengals' offensive line.
He's currently PFF's eighth-ranked guard with an overall offensive grade of 81.7, including an 80.7 run-blocking grade and a 73.7 pass-blocking grade.
For an offense as pass-happy as Cincinnati's, having an offensive line that can be trusted is enormous.
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This is also the first season of Burrow's career in which he's had the same five starting offensive linemen in consecutive seasons. That continuity, combined with Risner's strong play, has helped give the Bengals some much-needed stability up front.
Risner is scheduled to become a free agent after this season, and if he finishes the year the way he's started it, he's going to earn himself a nice new contract.
Hopefully, the Bengals are the ones who give it to him.
Tee Higgins
Chase is the Bengals' No. 1 receiver and, in my opinion, the best wide receiver in the NFL.
That shouldn't take anything away from how fantastic Higgins has been this season.
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He's currently PFF's 10th-ranked wide receiver with an outstanding overall offensive grade of 90.0, and he's on pace for more than 90 receptions and 1,400 receiving yards.
He only has one touchdown through five games, but he's been Mr. Reliable whenever opposing defenses devote extra attention to keeping Chase away from Burrow.
Higgins would be the unquestioned No. 1 receiver on plenty of NFL teams. The Bengals are fortunate enough to have him as their No. 2.
LOSERS
Orlando Brown Jr.
While everything seems to be going right at right tackle, the same can't be said for the other side of Cincinnati's offensive line.
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Brown has struggled mightily to start the season.
Among offensive tackles who have played at least 80% of their team's snaps, Brown ranks as the seventh-worst pass blocker, according to PFF, with a grade of 62.2. He's also surrendered three sacks and 12 total pressures.
Speed rushers, in particular, have given him fits. At times, he almost looks like he's trying to get a head start before the snap just to avoid getting beaten around the edge, putting himself at risk of drawing false-start penalties.
Hopefully, the bye week gives Brown an opportunity to regroup and come back looking a little less stiff.
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If his play doesn't improve, though, finding Burrow a new blindside protector may need to become one of Cincinnati's top priorities this offseason.
Darrin Simmons
Simmons has been the Bengals' special teams coordinator since 2003 and their assistant head coach since 2020.
Usually, that's a good thing. When special teams are doing their job, we rarely have much reason to talk about them.
Unfortunately, that's not been the case this season.
Outside of McPherson's outstanding kicking, Cincinnati's special teams units have been unreliable, undisciplined and, at times, downright costly.
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Against the Steelers, the Bengals committed a roughing-the-kicker penalty and muffed a punt, mistakes that ultimately resulted in 10 points for Pittsburgh.
The problems continued against Miami.
Lawrence was flagged for roughing the snapper, turning what would have been a Dolphins field goal into a touchdown. Erick All committed a 15-yard penalty that pushed McPherson out of field-goal range, and Dohnte Meyers fielded a kickoff near the four-yard line before allowing his momentum to carry him out of bounds.
That's a lot of avoidable mistakes for a unit led by one of the longest-tenured special teams coordinators in the league.
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Simmons needs his guys to come out of the bye week with renewed focus and discipline. The Bengals can't afford to keep giving away points and field position.
Andrei Iosivas
Iosivas finds himself on this list through no real fault of his own.
Unfortunately, injuries don't care about fairness.
Iosivas tore a ligament in his thumb, requiring surgery that could sideline him for four to six weeks. While that shouldn't cost him the entire season, it has opened the door for Dohnte Meyers to stake his claim to the WR3 position.
Meyers is shifty in space, has shown value as a return specialist and has an awesome story to boot.
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If he continues to make plays while Iosivas is sidelined, the Bengals could have a difficult decision to make when their veteran receiver is ready to return.
Iosivas may find himself fighting for the playing time that was his before the injury.
Jordan Battle
One good game doesn't erase a bunch of bad ones.
Battle looked much better against the Dolphins, intercepting two passes, one of which was tipped, and showing significant improvement as a tackler.
Unfortunately, that performance came after a rough opening stretch.
Before the Miami game, Battle had already missed seven tackles, according to PFF, tying him for the fourth-most in the NFL.
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The Bengals added Bryan Cook and Kyle Dugger this offseason, but they still need Battle to step up as a veteran safety familiar with the system.
Outside of his strong showing in Miami, he hasn't done nearly enough.
Hopefully, that game was the beginning of a turnaround rather than an outlier.
Zac Taylor
Yes, the Bengals started 2-0.
Yes, they have a winning record heading into the bye.
And yes, things look pretty good on paper.
But we're still seeing some of the same old Zac Taylor-isms that have frustrated Bengals fans for years.
Despite a renewed commitment to the running game and an effort to get Burrow under center more often, Cincinnati still hasn't figured out how to run the football consistently.
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Taylor's offensive play-calling has lacked imagination even when things are going well. When the offense struggles, that lack of creativity becomes even more glaring.
And Taylor isn't just the offensive play-caller. He's the head coach. He's steering the whole ship.
The defense has been inconsistent, special teams have committed costly mistakes, and the offense hasn't always looked like the well-oiled machine it should be with Burrow, Chase and Higgins leading the way.
At the end of the day, the buck stops with Taylor.
He's got some serious kinks to iron out during the bye week, because a 3-2 record isn't going to mean much if the same problems keep showing up.
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Bryan Cook
Cook was arguably the Bengals' most significant addition to the secondary this offseason.
The front office elected not to sign any cornerbacks, instead investing in two safeties, including Cook, who was considered the top safety available in free agency.
Unfortunately, the early returns haven't been encouraging.
Cook has already missed a game and a half through Cincinnati's first five contests, and according to PFF, he's on pace for one of the worst seasons of his career.
He's currently posting career-low marks in run defense and overall defensive grade, along with the second-worst coverage grade of his career. He's also on pace to match his career high in missed tackles.
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To be fair, Cook is learning a new defensive system, and that adjustment can take time.
However, the Bengals didn't bring him in to be a developmental project. They signed him to be a difference-maker in a secondary that desperately needed help.
Cincinnati needs the version of Cook who helped the Chiefs win championships to show up on the other side of the bye week.
The running game
Remember all that talk about establishing the run this offseason?
Well, we're five games into the season, and it's still mostly just talk.
The Bengals made a concerted effort to balance their offense, putting Burrow under center more frequently than they had through the first five weeks of any previous season.
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The idea was simple: Make the offense less predictable, take some pressure off Burrow and force defenses to respect the running game.
So far, it hasn't worked.
The Bengals' longest run of the season is just 13 yards, the shortest in the NFL. They're also averaging a miserable 3.6 yards per carry, tied for the fourth-worst mark in the league. That's not just a lack of explosive plays. That's an inability to consistently move the ball on the ground.
The Bengals have one of the most talented passing attacks in football, but they can't expect Burrow to carry the entire offense every single week. At some point, Cincinnati has to figure out how to run the ball.
