Joe Burrow identifies key advantage with one of the few things the Cincinnati Bengals did not change about their roster
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow has never experienced this level of continuity from his offensive line before. He expects that to play into their advantage to start the 2026 season.
Joe Burrow has never experienced this level of continuity from his offensive line before.
All five starters from the final seven weeks of last season are returning to start again for the Bengals in 2026. Orlando Brown Jr., Dylan Fairchild, Ted Karras, Dalton Risner, and Amarius Mims from left to right are the five Cincy is counting on for said continuity. All five played solid football during those seven weeks as the Bengals ranked second in the league in Pro Football Focus’ Pass Blocking Efficiency rating.
Any quarterback would value that group returning for another go. Burrow knows when that value can be seen the most.
Joe Burrow eyeing early season pass blocking boost
Cincinnati may’ve started 2-0 for the first time in the Burrow era last season, but there’s still another level the unit can reach offensively in the first few weeks of the schedule.
Burrow believes having an o-line that has already worked together, at a high level nonetheless, can lead to better results out the gate.
“It’s so beneficial at the beginning of the season when you have the reps of communication that we’ve had with those guys,” Burrow said during his press conference last week. “O-line is all about communicating, knowing where your help is, playing off of each other, and when you have five returning starters, number one that have done that, number two that have all the talent to go and make it happen. That’s a great feeling for me. There’s no question that we have to be better in the first couple of games at those positions, and the last half of last year they were unbelievable, and we just have to carry that into first couple weeks of this year and beyond.”
The chemistry is established, and the level of ability is proven. Fairchild and Mims are only growing into their best days, while Brown, Karras, and Risner aren’t showing signs of slowing down just yet. They best not start showing signs during the opening weeks of the upcoming season.
Bengals’ schedule calls for o-line hitting the ground running
Cincinnati has a relatively favorable schedule this year. Only two other teams have a weaker strength of schedule based on projected win totals.
The first four weeks, however, will bring challenges.
The Bengals open the season at home against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and go on the road against the Houston Texans in Week 2. Houston possesses arguably the best defense in the league featuring the game’s highest-paid pass rusher in Will Anderson Jr. Tampa Bay still has Vita Vea disrupting pockets from the interior and just drafted Rueben Bain Jr. in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft.
Week 3 takes the Bengals down the Ohio River to face the Pittsburgh Steelers. T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, and Cam Heyward are all still wearing black and yellow. The Jacksonville Jaguars come to Paycor Stadium in Week 4, bringing Travon Walker and Josh Hines-Allen to town with last year’s fourth-ranked defense in terms of dropback EPA per play allowed.
Cincinnati’s offensive line is not getting any layups to start the year. Burrow’s evaluation needs to be right in order for the Bengals to keep flipping the early season script.