This offseason, the Cincinnati Bengals operated like a team that understands the clock is ticking.
ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky believes the pressure is every bit as significant as the roster moves suggest.
“No other team has more at stake this season than the Bengals, outside of the L.A. Rams,” Orlovsky said on ESPN’s “First Take” on Aug. 17. He later added, “Everything is on the line.”
That understanding of Cincinnati lands after three straight seasons without a playoff appearance and a 6-11 finish in 2025.
Joe Burrow missed nine games after suffering a toe injury in Week 2, leaving one more year of his prime without a postseason run.
The Bengals have since responded with one of their most aggressive offseasons in recent memory, especially on the defensive side of the ball.
Orlovsky Says Bengals Have ‘Everything’ Riding on 2026
GettyNASHVILLE, TENNESSEE – DECEMBER 15: Head coach Zac Taylor of the Cincinnati Bengals talks to Joe Burrow #9 in the fourth quarter of a game against the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium on December 15, 2024 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
Orlovsky’s warning centers on a roster that has shown championship-level upside.
Burrow helped lead Cincinnati to Super Bowl LVI after the 2021 season and back to the AFC Championship Game one year later.
But then, the Bengals watched three consecutive postseasons from home.
The most recent miss came with Burrow limited to eight starts. He completed 66.8% of his passes for 1,809 yards, 17 touchdowns and five interceptions, as Cincinnati went 5-3 in the games he started.
The offense operates with Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Chase Brown at the heart of it. Chase produced 1,412 receiving yards in 2025, while Brown topped 1,000 rushing yards for the first time in his career.
That collection of talent piles a burden on head coach Zac Taylor, who enters his eighth season in Cincinnati. Taylor owns a 5-2 postseason record, but the Bengals haven’t returned to the playoffs since the 2022 campaign.
Orlovsky’s point is difficult to separate from that timeline.
Another missed postseason would stretch the drought to four years and invites fire-Taylor criticism about whether the coach can maximize its quarterback’s prime.
Bengals Spent Big to Give Joe Burrow a Different Defense
Cincinnati didn’t approach its biggest weakness with minor changes.
The Bengals traded the No. 10 overall pick in the 2026 NFL draft to acquire Dexter Lawrence, then signed the three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle to an extension. Cincinnati also added Jonathan Allen, Boye Mafe and Bryan Cook as part of a sweeping defensive remodel.
It was a response followed a season in which Cincinnati allowed 492 points and 6,475 total yards, with the Bengals ranking 30th in the NFL in points allowed.
The additions give defensive coordinator Al Golden a dramatically different front, with Cook adding a wily veteran component to the secondary.
But will the defense play well, or at least to a middle-of-the-pack position, to allow Burrow to win a bunch of games?
Chase and Higgins give him one of the NFL’s strongest receiver pairings, and since the front office has now made an expensive attempt to balance the other side of the roster, Orlovsky’s warning makes sense.
The Bengals have the quarterback, the weapons and the defensive reinforcements.
After three years outside the playoffs, 2026 has become the season when those pieces catapult the team into January once again.
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