Cincinnati Bengals 2026 NFL odds, season preview, analysis and predictions

The Cincinnati Bengals have now missed the postseason in three consecutive seasons, but do I dare say this year will be different? QB Joe Burrow is coming off a season in which he played just eight games, marking the third time in six years he hasn’t featured in every game. However, a healthy Burrow is a dangerous sight for the rest of the NFL, as the Bengals have made the AFC Championship in the two seasons he played a playoff game. Zac Taylor enters his eighth season in charge, as he somehow missed the mass firing of head coaches in the AFC North last season. 

Has Cinci done enough on the defensive side to finally get back in the playoffs? I’ll break it down in my Bengals season preview below.

Don’t forget to check out Sports Interaction’s complete list of NFL game odds and NFL futures.

Cincinnati Bengals NFL futures

Yes, the Bengals failed to make the playoffs yet again last year, but oddsmakers aren’t expecting that to happen this season. Here are various futures markets involving Cincinnati:

• Win the Super Bowl (+2200)
• Win the AFC (+1000)
• No. 1 seed in the AFC (+1000)
• Win the AFC North (+185)
• Make the playoffs (-175)
• Regular season wins: Over 10.5 (+115) | Under 10.5 (-135)

This team will win games so long as Burrow is healthy. He’s clearly one of the NFL’s most-dangerous QBs, and you can bet on these futures before the season gets underway:

• Joe Burrow to win MVP (+900)
• Ja’Marr Chase to win Offensive Player of the Year (+1000)
• Joe Burrow to lead the league in passing yards (+750)

Cincinnati Bengals squad strengths

The Bengals’ biggest strength is Joe Burrow and their passing attack. Cincinnati averaged just 24.4 PPG last season (12th in the NFL), but that number ticked up to 26.8 PPG in the eight games featuring Burrow, which included a 24-0 shutout loss to the Baltimore Ravens! He clearly played one of the worst games of his career in that defeat, as it was the only time he’s been shut out. 

You can’t talk about Burrow without talking about Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. The wide receiver duo is the best combo in the NFL in my eyes, and Chase currently has the second-shortest odds to lead the league in receiving yards, while Higgins’ over/under for receiving yards sits at 874.5.

Although Burrow, Chase, and Higgins are the stars on offence, WR Andrei Iosivas is coming off back-to-back seasons of at least 33 receptions and 435 receiving yards and has 12 career TDs in three years. He is in line to be Burrow’s third receiver and will be a dangerous red-zone target along with TE Mike Gesicki. RB Chase Brown is also coming off a season where he set a career-high in scrimmage yards (1,456), which he did after recording 1,350 in 2024. So long as this Bengals offence stays healthy, they will compete with anyone in the NFL. Now, the defence is a different story.

Cincinnati Bengals squad weaknesses

Cincinnati’s biggest weakness starts and ends with their defence. Although they improved over the second half of the 2025 season, they still gave up 28.9 PPG (30th in the NFL). In their two seasons where they made the Super Bowl and AFC Championship, the Bengals allowed just 22.1 PPG and 20.1 PPG. If they can get back to allowing fewer than 24 points per game, they’ll be back in business. 

Although they lost Trey Hendrickson in free agency, Cincinnati is trying to turn their biggest weakness into a strength. They began by trading the 10th overall pick in the 2026 NFL draft for Dexter Lawrence II, and they followed that up by signing former Seahawks OLB Boye Mafe to a three-year, $60 million deal. Additionally, LB Barrett Carter gained plenty of experience in his rookie season, and fellow 2025 draftee Demetrius Knight Jr. should start next to him in the linebacking core. Finally, CBs Dax Hill and DJ Turner II are both entering the final year of their rookie contracts, and they’ve both shown potential, so the Bengals need to take advantage of their cheap deals before they demand costly extensions.

Joe Burrow to record 4,000+ passing yards (-110)

I’m betting on Burrow being fully healthy, as he’s surpassed 4,400 yards in the three seasons where he played every game. Additionally, I’m not fully sold on this Bengals defence, even after the offseason acquisitions, as they could still be in plenty of shootouts this season. Burrow is averaging 270.3 passing yards per game in his career, so if he can play at least 15 games, he should soar past this number.