3–2, tied for 2nd in the AFC North; offense top 10, defense middle of the league.
The Bengals are 3–2 in 2026, 0–1 against the AFC North.
By opponent-adjusted EPA per play the Bengals' offense ranks 8th (+0.07) and their defense 17th (0.00 allowed); 5th of 32 by net (+0.08).
Data through Week 5's games (the last played Mon, Oct 12), from nflverse play-by-play; nflverse last published it .
Week 7 · Sun, Oct 25 · 12:00 PM CT on CBS
Our call: Ravens Toss-up
3 of 4 models favor the Ravens. On average the models have the Ravens by 1.1 points, a 54% win chance.
Every model, the quarterbacks and the matchup →
TV listings: ESPN
Headlines and a line or two from each outlet's own feed, linked to the original; the stories are theirs, not ours. League-wide news →
| Team | Record | In the division |
|---|---|---|
| Baltimore Ravens | 4–1 | 0–0 |
| Cleveland Browns | 3–2 | 1–0 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 3–2 | 1–1 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 3–2 | 0–1 |
By winning percentage (a tie counts half), then the NFL's division tiebreakers as our standings apply them.
| Week | Opponent | Result | Our call | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1Sun, Sep 13 · Fox | vs Buccaneers | W 33–27 | Bengals Toss-up · ✓ | Game page |
| Week 2Sun, Sep 20 · CBS | at Texans | W 20–6 | Texans Lean · ✗ | Game page |
| Week 3Sun, Sep 27 · CBS | at Steelers | L 27–30 | Bengals Toss-up · ✗ | Game page |
| Week 4Sun, Oct 4 · CBS | vs Jaguars | L 17–22 | Jaguars Toss-up · ✓ | Game page |
| Week 5Sun, Oct 11 · Fox | at Dolphins | W 31–24 | Bengals Lean · ✓ | Game page |
| Week 6 | Bye | |||
| Week 7Sun, Oct 25 · CBS | at Ravens | — | Ravens Toss-up | Game page |
| Week 8Sun, Nov 1 · CBS | vs Titans | — | Bengals Strong | Game page |
| Week 9Sun, Nov 8 · NFL Network | vs Falconsneutral site | — | Bengals Toss-up | Game page |
| Week 10Sun, Nov 15 · NBC | vs Steelers | — | Bengals Toss-up | Game page |
| Week 11Mon, Nov 23 · ESPN | at Commanders | — | Bengals Lean | Game page |
| Week 12Sun, Nov 29 · CBS | vs Saints | — | Bengals Lean | Game page |
| Week 13Sun, Dec 6 · CBS | at Browns | — | Bengals Toss-up | Game page |
| Week 14Sun, Dec 13 · Fox | vs Chiefs | — | Chiefs Toss-up | Game page |
| Week 15Sun, Dec 20 · Fox | at Panthers | — | Bengals Toss-up | Game page |
| Week 16Sun, Dec 27 | at Colts | — | Bengals Toss-up | Game page |
| Week 17Thu, Dec 31 · Prime Video | vs Ravens | — | Bengals Toss-up | Game page |
| Week 18Sun, Jan 10 | vs Browns | — | Bengals Lean | Game page |
Our call is the team the consensus of our models favored before kickoff, never changed after it; ✓ when that team won, ✗ when it lost. Each game page shows every model.
TV listings: ESPN
2026 regular season through Week 5, from nflverse's player stats: the Bengals players above the leaders page's marks per team game.
| Player | Yardspassing | Attempts | Completedof attempts | TD | INT | EPAper dropback |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe BurrowQB | 1,361 | 189 | 71% | 11 | 3 | +0.17 |
| Player | Yardsrushing | Carries | Yardsper carry | TDrushing | Targets | Share ofteam targets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chase BrownRB | 246 | 71 | 3.5 | 1 | 28 | 15% |
| Player | Yardsreceiving | Catches | Targets | Share ofteam targets | Air yards | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tee HigginsWR | 423 | 27 | 43 | 23% | 573 | 1 |
| Ja'Marr ChaseWR | 289 | 27 | 38 | 20% | 350 | 4 |
| Dohnte MeyersWR | 141 | 13 | 18 | 10% | 93 | 0 |
| Player | Yardsreceiving | Catches | Targets | Share ofteam targets | Air yards | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike GesickiTE | 159 | 12 | 17 | 9.1% | 177 | 4 |
| Player | Tackles | For loss | Sacks | INT | Passesdefended | Fumblesforced |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demetrius Knight Jr.LB | 42 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Barrett CarterLB | 41 | 4 | 1.5 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Jordan BattleSAF | 32 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 |
| Daxton HillDB | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| Bryan CookSAF | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Jonathan AllenDT | 15 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Dexter LawrenceDT | 14 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| DJ Turner IICB | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Tacario DavisCB | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Boye MafeDE | 10 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Top 10 by tackles.
| Player | FG made | FG tried | Longestyards | Extra pointsmade | Extra pointstried |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Evan McPhersonK | 10 | 10 | 58 | 14 | 14 |
Opponent-adjusted, from nflverse play-by-play, 2026 regular season to date; league rank of 32 beside each.
| Bengals | Rank | |
|---|---|---|
| Offense, EPA per play | +0.07 | 8th |
| Offense, success rate | 46% | 10th |
| Passing offense, EPA per dropback | +0.14 | 11th |
| Rushing offense, EPA per run | −0.05 | 13th |
What the defense allowed, opponent-adjusted, 2026 regular season to date; 1st allowed the least. Net is offense minus defense.
| Bengals | Rank | |
|---|---|---|
| Defense, EPA per play allowed | 0.00 | 17th |
| Defense, success rate allowed | 44% | 21st |
| Pass defense, EPA per dropback allowed | +0.03 | 13th |
| Run defense, EPA per run allowed | −0.06 | 19th |
| Net EPA per play (offense minus defense) | +0.08 | 5th |
Week 5 report (last filed); bye in Week 6
The official injury report, as of Tue, Oct 13 · 9:57 AM CT: players with a game status or a missed or limited practice.
Our call had the winner in 3 of 5 Bengals games (60%).
| Model | Games | Winner right | Rate | Average miss |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Consensus (our call) | 5 | 3 of 5 | 60% | 6.2 |
| Our model Experimental | 5 | 2 of 5 | 40% | 6.3 |
| Elo | 5 | 4 of 5 | 80% | 6.6 |
| SRS | 5 | 2 of 4 | 50% | 7.0 |
| ESPN FPI | 5 | 3 of 5 | 60% | 6.1 |
| Record | 5 | 3 of 5 | 60% | — |
Winner right: games where the model favored the team that won (a tie counts half). Average miss: points between the model's margin and the final margin. Weeks 1–4 reconstructed: worked out afterwards from data before each week. Every game, every team →
Likely in: the Bengals reach the playoffs in 64% of our 20,000 simulations of the rest of the season and win the AFC North in 31%; their average finish is 10–7.
In the race for the 2027 draft: the Bengals get the #1 pick in <1% of the simulations and a top-5 pick in 1%. Draft order →
After Week 5's games; simulated Tue, Oct 13 · 6:05 PM CT. The rest of the season is played out 20,000 times, each game with our call's win chance; the NFL's tiebreakers are applied in simplified form (no points or touchdown steps). How the simulation works →