CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Bengals capitalized on three first-half takeaways to beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 33-27 in the season opener at Paycor Stadium on Sunday.

The Buccaneers dug themselves a hole with the three first-half fumbles, each leading to Bengals touchdowns. The first, on a strip-sack of Baker Mayfield, was scooped up by linebacker Demetrius Knight Jr., who ran it back for a 27-yard touchdown. The Bengals went into halftime with a 24-10 lead.

The game tightened in the third quarter when Buccaneers rookie linebacker Josiah Trotter returned an interception of Joe Burrow 38 yards for a touchdown to make it 27-20. A Boye Mafe sack in the fourth quarter caused Mayfield’s third lost fumble and stopped Tampa Bay’s momentum, but Mayfield scored on a late fourth-quarter drive to pull back to 33-27 with 3:19 remaining. Burrow and the Cincinnati offense were able to drain the rest of the clock to hold onto the win.

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Cincinnati’s offseason strategy on display with revamped defense

All the money and draft capital spent reimagining the Cincinnati’s defense was in action on Sunday. Nearly every well-compensated free agent or top draft pick made a big play and the players that the personnel department bet on making a jump were at the center of the game’s most impactful moments for the unit.

Let’s take a look back through the offseason.

•  The Bengals paid Mafe $20 million per year. He blew up Mayfield from behind for a sack-fumble in the fourth quarter and also recovered a fumble in the first half.

•  They paid safety Bryan Cook $13 million per year and he forced a fumble in the first half.

•  They paid Jonathan Allen $25 million over two years. He recorded a sack on third-and-long to force a field goal.

•  They traded for Dexter Lawrence. He might have contributed the quietest stat line, but pushed the pocket, forcing Mayfield to scramble on what turned into a fumble in the end zone in the first half while drawing double teams all afternoon.

•  In the second round they drafted Cashius Howell, who drew a holding call to put Tampa behind the sticks early.

•  They believed in maligned second-year linebackers Knight Jr. and Barrett Carter. Carter was part of a sack in which Myles Murphy forced a fumble and Knight scooped up the ball for a defensive touchdown that set the tone of the day.

Playing with the lead, the defensive front came in waves just as de facto general manager Duke Tobin hoped when he kept throwing assets at the problem. Chaos erupted in the backfield on nearly every clear passing down for Mayfield, none larger than the final sack-fumble of the day by Mafe.

This was the vision in the offseason. The vision provided the punch  on the path to 1-0. Paul Dehner Jr., Bengals beat writer 

Bucs plagued by fumbles

For a team that had been superb in season openers of late — entering Sunday, Todd Bowles had won all four since becoming the Bucs coach in 2022, with Mayfield winning his first three as starting quarterback — this wasn’t simply a surprising debut for Tampa Bay but a concerning one.

That’s because the Bucs, particularly their newly-minted $165 million quarterback, couldn’t stop fumbling. All told the Bucs lost four fumbles on the afternoon, including three by Mayfield, the most ever in a game in his nine-year career. For perspective: the Bucs didn’t lose their fourth fumble last season until Week 7.

Not exactly how Tampa Bay saw 2026 unfolding after inking Mayfield to his record-setting contract last week.

Plenty of credit goes to the revamped Bengals’ defensive front — Mayfield was under pressure all afternoon. They worked over the Bucs’ offensive line, particularly early, as five different defenders sacked Mayfield. Tampa Bay was able to pile up 27 points, enough to win plenty of games in this league, but the turnovers proved the difference.

A bright spot on defense came in the person of Trotter, who on top of nine tackles and a sack in his NFL debut also had a pick six, becoming the first player in franchise history to do so.— Zak Keefer, NFL senior writer

Bengals seem comfortable under center

The predominant schematic storyline for a Cincinnati offense bringing back all 11 starters from 2025 revolved around increasing the use of the under-center formation. The Bengals lived in shotgun more than nearly every team in football the last four seasons. They wanted to find more explosive plays in the run game, utilize play-action and, most importantly, use the formation as a weapon to finish off leads.

They did just that.

Cincinnati rushed from under center 17 times for 78 yards, using it predominantly in the fourth quarter to squeeze the game clock with a two-score advantage. Burrow wasn’t spectacular — he overthrew Tee Higgins on an under-center, play-action deep attempt in the first half — but played well going utilizing under center.

The offense was far from perfect, specifically the inexcusable pick-6 Burrow threw to Trotter in the second half to allow Tampa Bay back in the game, but the under-center formation proved beneficial and effective. — Dehner

Icing the game

The Bengals talked ad nauseum about being better at finishing games. Coach Zac Taylor even put all the games in which they had the lead or within a score and lost in the fourth quarter last year on the screen during team meetings. Well, the first game brought the first opportunity to prove this year could be different. After the defense allowed a Mayfield touchdown scramble to pull within six with three minutes left, Burrow and the offense delivered. Training camp darling Dohnte Meyers contributed a slick catch-and-run, as did third-down back Samaje Perine. But the exclamation point was a ridiculous, audacious display of athleticism by Higgins, who appeared to levitate in order to haul in an 18-yard pass from Burrow that essentially put the victory on ice. — Dehner