KEY MATCHUPS

1. Bengals WR Ja’Marr Chase vs. Buccaneers CB Jacob Parrish

Ja’Marr Chase is either the best receiver in the NFL or on a very short list of candidates for that title, and he’s only gotten better in recent years. In 2024, he won the receiving Triple Crown, leading in receptions (127), receiving yards (1,708) and touchdown receptions (17) and last year, even with a good deal of quarterback upheaval, he led all players with 185 targets, a career high, and racked up another 125 catches and 1,412 yards. Chase is the complete package at the position, and that includes what he can do once the ball in his hands; his 651 yards after the catch last year was second to Puka Nacua among all receivers and roughly half of that came after he made contact with a defender. Chase and running mate Tee Higgins will be a serious challenge right out of the gate for the Bucs’ outside corners, Jacob Parrish and Zyon McCollum. Chase can certainly make plays out of the slot but he took two-thirds of his snaps lined up out wide last season, and more often on the left side of the offense, where he should encounter Parrish. The 2025 third-round pick saw the majority of his action in the slot as a rookie but is now installed as an outside corner, which is the position he primarily played in college. He’s a sticky cover corner who plays bigger than his size and has the innate confidence needed for the position. Parrish also knows the assignment this week, pointing to Joe Burrow’s deadly accuracy and the pressing need to limit that YAC by Chase and Higgins.

2. Buccaneers RB Bucky Irving vs. Bengals LB Demetrius Knight

Bucky Irving was a breakout star as a rookie in 2024, with 1,514 yards from scrimmage and the best forced missed tackle rate this side of Derrick Henry. Unfortunately, significant shoulder and ankle injuries shrunk his numbers in his 2025 follow-up and never let him get into the groove that produced 5.4 yards per carry the year before. Irving is healthy again and the belief is that he can return to being the type of creative runner who can stack cuts on top of each other to turn seemingly small plays into huge gains. Among those trying to stop him on Sunday will be a pair of similarly young players who were quickly thrust into big roles, Bengals linebackers Demetrius Knight and Barrett Carter. Cincinnati drafted Knight in the second round and Carter in the fourth last year and slid them right into the starting lineup next to each other in the middle of the defense, which led to the expected growing pains. Since then, the Bengals have restocked the defense all around those two young ‘backers, starting with a man up front in Dexter Lawrence who should keep blockers off them in the second level. McKnight was second on the team last year to safety Jordan Battle in both total tackles (106) and tackles on run plays (61) and will be trying to contain Irving before he can break into the open for big plays.

3. Bengals T Amarius Mims vs. Buccaneers OLB Rueben Bain Jr.

Cincinnati believes it has a rising star in right tackle Amarius Mims, their first-round draft pick from 2024 who made noticeable strides in the second half of the 2025 season, particularly in dealing with such high-powered edge rushers as Myles Garrett. Mims is massive (6-8, 340) but he has nimble feet and the ability to keep defenders at bay with his long wingspan. Since keeping Joe Burrow healthy is the number-one key to the Bengals returning to playoff contention, the team needs Mims to continue his upward ascension. One of the players he’ll be trying to keep away from Burrow on Sunday is also a first-round pick, Bucs rookie edge rusher Rueben Bain Jr. Bain is expected to start opposite Yaya Diaby, and if their brief preseason came is an indication, Bain will most commonly rush from the left end of the defensive front, putting him in conflict with Mims. As big of a blocker as Mims is, Bain has shown the ability to move men much larger then himself with uncanny strength and a feel for leverage. He led the nation in quarterback pressures last season at Miami and finished with 9.5 sacks, with his performance in the college playoffs putting him in the spotlight. Bain is a relentless down-to-down defender who is motivated by an intense dislike for anyone in an opposing uniform.

4. Buccaneers C Graham Barton vs. Bengals NT Dexter Lawrence

It might not be a stretch to claim that after Burrow’s health the next key to the Bengals rebounding in 2026 is newcomer Dexter Lawrence channeling his 2022-24 form, when he racked up 21.0 sacks, three Pro Bowl invitations, two All-Pro honors while being regarded as one of the league’s premier run-stoppers. After their rough season on defense in 2025, the Bengals didn’t think they could repair that unit if it didn’t start with a force in the middle who could slow down opposing rushing attacks and soak up double-teams to create better pass-rush matchups on the edges. Cincinnati was 32nd in run defense and 23rd in sacks per pass play last season, so there is a lot of room for improvement with Lawrence leading the way. Countering that will be an assignment for all of the Bucs’ interior linemen on Sunday, but since Lawrence, as noted, is likely to draw a good number of double-teams center Graham Barton should be right in the thick of that effort. After a very promising rookie campaign as a first-round pick in 2024, Barton had a difficult time taking a big leap forward in his second season because he was forced out of position to left tackle to start the season and he saw all his fellow O-Line starters around him miss significant time due to injury. Now, however, Barton is back at the pivot of that line that was so strong in 2024 and this time in position to take that big step forward. The barrel-chested 314-pounder plays with great strength at the point of contact but is also well-suited to run the schemes with more lateral movement expected to be a bigger part of the Bucs’ offense in 2026.

Another Key Storyline this week is our Moffitt Stories of Courage special guest, Larry McKinnon.