Here's how the Cincinnati Bengals find success in 2026
John Sheeran discusses three keys to the Cincinnati Bengals success in 2026.
Video Transcript
This checklist is looking pretty good so far.
A legitimately improved defense, a healthy quarterback, the Bengals should be a winning team by then.
But beating the AFC North and getting past these opponents while they're in a year of flux and transition, that is also crucial as well.
It doesn't matter that the Browns, the Steelers, and the Ravens all have new coaches.
They all have as much intel on the Bengals as possible because the Bengals are the team that has changed the least in this division.
But if the Bengals want an easy path in the playoffs, maybe one that involves more than just one home playoff game, winning the division and winning more games than not is gonna be crucial in that.
Like sweeping the Browns, for example, that should be a given this year.
The Browns are gonna have a terrible quarterback situation.
They no longer have Myles Garrett.
They no longer have Jim Schwartz coordinating that defense.
That matters.
That's going to change the dynamic of that matchup.
It still won't be easy because the Browns still have talent throughout that defense, but it's gonna be under a new play caller, and they no longer have their best player because they traded him to, in order to get a quarterback in next year's draft.
Sweeping the Steelers is definitely far from a given, but the Bengals have been able to do that in the past when Burrow has been healthy with a competent defense, and if that's gonna be the case this year, then that's definitely on the table.
The Ravens are rightfully the favorites of this division, and sweeping them is probably not a likely scenario, but getting one win against them, maybe at home in prime time on Thursday night on New Year's Eve, that's also going to help out tremendously
