Joe Burrow: The 2026 Bengals Are 'Different' From Previous Years

The Cincinnati Bengals have missed the playoffs in three consecutive seasons, but superstar quarterback Joe Burrow is convinced that drought will end this year.

"I just want to win this year. I just want to win. The rest will take care of itself.  I think we'll break a bunch of records eventually, but I think we're going to have a really good team that has a chance to win every game that we step foot on the field for. I don't know about you, but I could really feel it in my bones and my soul in OTAs this year — different from years past," Burrow said as a guest on the first episode of "Chasing No. 1," which the quarterback's star wide receiver, Ja'Marr Chase, is a co-host of.

"We brought in a lot of the right guys, a lot of the right people with the right mindsets to go and chase this goal of winning a Super Bowl and winning as many games as we can and being the best possible team that we can. I felt it from our D-line. I felt it from our defense. Our offense has the same guys as years past. ... These veteran guys that we brought in on defense to be able to help our younger guys [are going to make a difference]."

Burrow's 2025 campaign was sidetracked by suffering a turf toe injury in Week 2, which kept him off the field for nine games. Cincinnati went 5-3 in the games Burrow started and 1-8 in the games he missed.

It marked the third season of Burrow's six-year career where injures hindered his availability, as a torn ACL cut short the quarterback's 2020 rookie season after 10 games and a wrist injury ended his 2023 campaign after 10 games.

Preceding Cincinnati's 6-11 season was a 9-8 campaign in 2024 that saw the Bengals open the year 4-8 and another 9-8 season in 2023. Of course, Cincinnati reached the Super Bowl in Burrow's second season under center (2021) and reached the AFC Championship Game again in 2022.

Across the eight games Burrow appeared in last season (2025), the three-time Pro Bowler totaled 1,809 passing yards, 17 passing touchdowns, five interceptions and a 100.7 passer rating, while completing 66.8% of his passes. The year prior (2024), Burrow threw for an NFL-high 4,918 yards and 43 touchdowns.

As for their offseason, the Bengals acquired star defensive tackle and three-time Pro Bowler Dexter Lawrence from the New York Giants for the No. 10 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft and subsequently signed him to a one-year, $28 million extension. As for their earliest draft selection, the Bengals took Texas A&M Aggies defensive end Cashius Howell with the No. 41 pick. 

While Cincinnati lost defensive end and four-time Pro Bowler Trey Hendrickson in free agency, it added defensive end Boye Mafe (three-year, $60 million deal), safety Bryan Cook (three-year, $40.3 million deal) and defensive tackle Jonathan Allen (two-year, $25 million deal), among others. Veteran quarterback Joe Flacco, who started six games in place of Burrow and appeared in nine games altogether for the Bengals in 2025 after coming over in a midseason trade from the Cleveland Browns, was re-signed on a one-year deal.

Burrow and the Bengals open their 2026 regular season at home against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sept. 13 (1 p.m. ET on FOX/FOX One).

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