The Cincinnati Bengals (2-0) are on the road this weekend against the Pittsburgh Steelers (1-1) in the first AFC North showdown of the 2026 regular season.

This is historically one of the more intense rivalry games in the league, and getting the upper hand early in the year can have huge implications on the rest of the season.

We’ve brought together our AFC North beat writers to predict Sunday’s game, and they all came to the same conclusion.

Bengals 31, Steelers 23

This game looks like an important early-season divisional matchup on paper perhaps, but I don’t think it matters so much in the grand scheme of things. The Bengals are the superior team here, and it’s going to take a real blunder of turnovers, or bad luck for them to lose this game on the road. Cincinnati has avoided the slow start that’s burned them in the past, and they’re going to keep it going in this one.

The Bengals have improved their defense in a big way, and the Steelers are going to get their first taste of those improvements in Week 4. Cincinnati has the better quarterback with Joe Burrow, who also has the better group of playmakers, even if he is down his No. 3 wideout Andrei Iosivas. If DK Metcalf can’t get going this week, it’s curtains for the Steelers, and it’s a bad outlook for what this season could be.

Pittsburgh gets this first game at home, which means something at the end of the day. However, these Steelers aren’t going to continue winning games the Mike Tomlin way as they did in the past. Pittsburgh fans are going to be feeling uneasy at 1-2, but they’ll have some very winnable games in October.

– Brandon Little, A to Z Cleveland

Bengals 22, Steelers 19

I think many Steelers fans hoped that heading into the first divisional game, the offense would find its footing under Mike McCarthy and be firing on all cylinders, but that unit is closer to needing a rebuild than a tune-up. I don’t know how that offense inspires confidence in anyone who watched the game last week against New England. The film was even worse. WRs plastered in man coverage, poor spacing and questionable route concepts, multiple blown assignments in pass protection, and a quarterback playing too fast because he knows his line can’t protect. That, coupled with a vastly improved Cincy defense, is problematic to say the least.

So the only way I see Pittsburgh winning is by making this an old-fashioned, low-scoring, AFC North slugfest. I’m talking about a 13-10 ugly game late in the fourth where T.J. Watt takes advantage of a reeling Orlando Brown Jr. and forces a strip-sack fumble. Anything else, and the Bengals probably start 3-0.

– Rob Gregson, A to Z Pittsburgh

Bengals 16, Steelers 10

There’s no denying how inept Pittsburgh looks at the moment. Not being able to run the ball worth a damn combined with erratic pass protection, and a passing game that is simply not in sync all leads me to believe that Cincinnati’s defense can probably win this game on its own. The Bengals pass rush is as legit as they hoped it would be in the first month of the season. Aaron Rodgers I imagine we’ll still try to get the ball out very quickly, but Dexter Lawrence II and Co. will be ready to pounce.

I think what people are underestimating is how good the Steelers defense still is, and Cincinnati’s offense has not hit the next gear just yet. Watt may not be able to do much against ascending right tackle Amarius Mims, but with him being moved around more often compared to his entire career, he should get opportunities against Brown. The Bengals have an offensive line they can win with, but this is one of the better defensive lines on their schedule.

It would be moderately surprising to me if the Bengals score in the upper 20s in this one. It feels like it’ll be low scoring, but if Pittsburgh can’t find any magical answers against a defense that is feeling itself, Cincinnati should still come out on top.

– John Sheeran, A to Z Cincinnati

Final Prediction for Bengals at Steelers

It’s a unanimous consensus for the Bengals topping the Steelers on Sunday. Cincinnati is 3-4 at Pittsburgh in the Zac Taylor era, but the series has gone back and forth in the last four meetings. Considering where the Bengals are now, they’re expected to move to 3-0 on the young season.