Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor could use a strong start to the new season after last year's total mirage of a 2-0 beginning. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are trending to help Taylor do precisely that.
Although it's sad that the Bucs will still employ Vita Vea after he demanded a trade before signing a new deal, they could be significantly shorthanded on offense. That's great news for Bengals cornerbacks DJ Turner and Dax Hill as they're both on the final year of their contracts.
Tampa Bay quarterback Baker Mayfield may have his work cut out to outduel Joe Burrow. Whereas Burrow's top weapons, Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, are banged up but should be in the clear for Week 1, the same can't be said for Baker's bunch.
Bucs are looking badly banged up ahead of 2026 season opener
Bucs head coach Todd Bowles provided a recent, rather discouraging update on wideouts Emeka Egbuka and Jalen McMillan, via Fox Sports' Greg Auman:
"Headed in the right direction. I don’t know how fast. I’ll have a better gauge next week. They’re moving forward every day."
SI.com indicated in a recent write-up that Egbuka has a toe injury from joint practice with the Jets, and McMillan nursing a left knee injury that he suffered in training camp.
Egbuka had a strong start to the 2025 campaign, looking very much like the latest major hit out of Ohio State. However, mounting injuries took their toll down the stretch, and his inefficacy, combined with Baker Mayfield's own ailments, caused Tampa to collapse and miss the playoffs.
Meanwhile, McMillan appeared in only four games last season due to a neck injury that he said almost paralyzed him.
This is all just a tad different than Chase nursing a minor knee hyperextension and Higgins dealing with a heel bruise.
DJ Turner and Dax Hill could very well establish themselves among the best perimeter cornerback tandem in the league this year. The Bengals' overhauled denfeisve line led by two-time All-Pro Dexter Lawrnece should make their jbos even easier, too.
If Mayfield can't count on Egbuka or McMillan to be at 100% for the season opener at Paycor Stadium, it could be a very long afternoon. Bucs center Graham Barton hasn't exactly proven he was worthy of his first-round draft billing, and their left guard, Ben Bredeson, isn't some world beater either.
In other words, Tampa's o-line will have their hands full on the inside with Lawrence and Jonathan Allen, never mind any stunts the Bengals throw at them.
Things are shaping up quite nicely in Cincinnati. If the offense can pull off the seemingly impossible under Taylor and not come out super flat, and the defense can capitalize on what should be a limited Egbuka and/or McMillan, this could easily be the best Week 1 of the Bengals' Burrow-Taylor era.
Add us as a preferred source on Google