Cincinnati Bengals an Underrated NFL Contender Entering 2026 Season

Training Camps are kicking off this week and beyond across the NFL as teams continue putting together their best talent mixes on the field.

Off the field, evaluators are gauging the most overrated and underrated teams in the NFL.

Underrated?

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (9) throws a pass to a teammate during practice on Tuesday, June 9, 2026, at Kettering Health Practice Fields in downtown Cincinnati. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The Athletic's Mike Jones thinks people are underrating the Bengals.

"A 31st-ranked defense that surrendered at least 30 points in seven contests and more than 45 points twice offered next to no support for an offense that endured a nine-game stretch without a healthy Joe Burrow," Jones wrote for the site. "Now the franchise quarterback returns, and the additions of defensive tackles Dexter Lawrence and Jonathan Allen and pass rusher Boye Mafe should help bolster Cincinnati’s defensive front.

"Thanks to those moves, plus others along the defense, the Bengals just might have better depth than they did when they reached the Super Bowl during the 2021 season. The Baltimore Ravens draw much attention in the AFC North, and rightfully so, and Mike McCarthy’s reunion with Aaron Rodgers in Pittsburgh has the Steelers in the spotlight, but the Bengals seem primed for a bounce-back season and could cause trouble for divisional foes."

One's feelings on Cincinnati's defense likely gauge where you sit on the overrated or underrated side of things.

The defense should be way better with all the additions, but three consecutive years of declining defensive play means Cincinnati has to prove they are better early on, or that goodwill could completely disappear.

Alas, that unit gets to face ESPN FPI's easiest NFL schedule this coming season (11th-best chance to win the Super Bowl). Looking at the Bengals' opposing quarterbacks, they face just five contests where the other team is projected to field a quarterback arguably in the top 10 at their position (Baltimore twice, Jacksonville and Kansas City).

The team is fully set up to on-board this new defense and hit its stride down the stretch of the season. Of those five contests, only two are scheduled before Nov. 23, leaving this new defense plenty of time to get ready for tougher action later in the season.

Check out the full ranking from Jones here.

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