Cincinnati Bengals 2026 Schedule Released: Full List of Games and Dates

Cincinnati is facing one of the NFL's easiest schedules in the NFL.

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (9) celebrates after the game-winning touchdown pass to Tee Higgins in overtime of the NFL Week 17 game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Denver Broncos at Paycor Stadium in downtown Cincinnati on Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. The Bengals took a 30-24 win in overtime to remain in the post season chase. | Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Bengals' 2026 schedule is locked in!

All opponents have dates set as Cincinnati gets ready to open the 2026 season against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Paycor Stadium on Sept 13. The Bengals are facing a juicy third-place schedule in 2026. They are battling against the AFC South for four games this season and the NFC South for another four-game chunk, while also facing the Kansas City Chiefs and Dolphins as the additional third-place AFC squads. 

The Washington Commanders are their 17th-game NFC foe this coming season, while also battling the AFC North six times per usual.

One of those NFC battles is happening in Madrid, Spain. Joe Burrow got his wish and takes on the Falcons at The Bernabéu Stadium across the pond Nov. 8.

Cincinnati has one of the easiest projected schedules in the NFL based on current betting season win totals. Warren Sharp broke down the numbers to start this month and noted Cincinnati is facing the third-easiest schedule overall, and it matches the traditional view on schedule strength (prior year opponent win rate). The Bengals' 2026 opponents posted the third-lowest combined winning percentage in the NFL last season.

Full Schedule

Paycor Stadium, home of the Cincinnati Bengals, in downtown Cincinnati on Friday, May 23, 2025. | Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The time is now to make a run at the AFC's No. 1 seed with a juiced-out roster financially. Check out the full look at each game date below, plus an explainer from Sharp on how betting win total SOS works.

Preseason
Week 1: vs. Detroit Lions
Week 2: vs. Chicago Bears
Week 3: at Philadelphia Eagles
Regular Season
Week 1: Sept. 13 vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers — 1:00 p.m. ET (FOX)
Week 2: Sept. 20 at Houston Texans — 1:00 p.m. ET (CBS)
Week 3: Sept. 27 at Pittsburgh Steelers — 1:00 p.m. ET (CBS)
Week 4: Oct. 4 vs. Jacksonville Jaguars — 1:00 p.m. ET (CBS)
Week 5: Oct. 11 at Miami Dolphins — 1:00 p.m. ET (FOX)
Week 6: Bye Week
Week 7: Oct. 25 at Baltimore Ravens — 1:00 p.m. ET (CBS)
Week 8: Nov. 1 vs. Tennessee Titans — 1:00 p.m. ET (CBS)
Week 9: Nov. 8 vs. Atlanta Falcons (Madrid) — 9:30 a.m. ET (NFL Network)
Week 10: Nov. 15 vs. Pittsburgh Steelers (SNF) — 8:20 p.m. ET (NBC)
Week 11: Nov. 23 at Washington Commanders (MON) — 8:15 p.m. ET (ESPN)
Week 12: Nov. 29 vs. New Orleans Saints — 1:00 p.m. ET (CBS)
Week 13: Dec. 6 at Cleveland Browns — 1:00 p.m. ET (CBS)
Week 14: Dec. 13 vs. Kansas City Chiefs — 4:25 p.m. ET (FOX)
Week 15: Dec. 20 at Carolina Panthers — 1:00 p.m. ET (FOX)
Week 16: at Indianapolis Colts — TBD
Week 17: Dec. 31 vs. Baltimore Ravens (TNF on NYE) — 8:15 p.m. ET (Amazon)
Week 18: vs. Cleveland Browns — TBD

"Projected win totals incorporate current information about team strength, including offseason acquisitions, injuries, and coaching changes," Sharp wrote. "These projections are crafted by sportsbooks aiming to predict future performance, making them more reflective of a team's current capabilities. While no SOS metric is perfect, using Vegas win totals provides a better indication of what teams could look like in the upcoming season than relying on the previous year'swins.

"We know that certain teams will benefit from luck factors in games next season, such as fumble recoveries, opponent field goal misses, tipped passes that result in interceptions, and red zone variance. But with current projected win totals, the pure luck factors that decide games are not incorporated. Think of it as if they are ignored or are evenly distributed across all 32 teams. But looking at last year’s records, that is not the case. There is not an even distribution of these luck factors, and as a result, prior-year records are skewed due to luck. Thus, incorporating those wonky results into future calculations leads to a higher error rate. Ignoring luck (or distributing it equally among all 32 teams) will increase schedule projection accuracy."

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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