There was a time when NFL teams would have loved to be compared to the Dallas Cowboys, like when they won three Super Bowls from 1992 to 1995. Nowadays, what does it mean to be compared to the Cowboys?
It could mean many things, but generally, the team’s theme as of late has been to have a high-powered offense and to hope their defense steps up. Whether they can put it all together is the same annual test that all 32 NFL teams face. Now, as another season nears, an AFC contender is being compared to the Cowboys in a good way.
Are the 2026 Cincinnati Bengals Like the Cowboys?
The Cowboys head into the season, once again with a powerful offense on paper, and questions, yet intrigue on defense. If all the right pieces fall into place, the Cowboys could have something special in the works.
ESPN’s Kevin Clark believes the same could be said for the Cincinnati Bengals, who he views as the “one team in the AFC that everybody’s sleeping on.” Clark suggests the Bengals could surprise many people in the NFL this season.
“The Bengals, to me, a little bit like the Cowboys,” Clark said. “A really high floor on offense, as long as everyone’s healthy. Look at the moves they made: Dexter Lawrence — one of the best defensive tackles in all of football, the most double-teamed guy on the planet, the attention he’s going to command. In the back end, their issue last year was tackling. They go out and replace Geno Stone with Bryan Cook, one of the best tacklers in the business.”
The Bengals placed a heavy emphasis on upgrading the defense, which is a step in the right direction after Cincinnati ranked 26th on PFN’s Defense Impact Rankings last season. Offensively? This is still largely the same core skill position group that helped lead the Bengals to a Super Bowl appearance in Feb. of 2022.
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“I’m looking at this Burrow, Higgins, Chase combination; the offensive line has gotten better, it’s better than I think people think nationally,” Clark argued. “I think they’re gonna win a bunch of games, and they’re going to be right up there. If I had to pick right now, it would be Rams-Bengals at SoFi Stadium.”
Some would say that if they’ve done it before, they can do it again. The Bengals are out to prove that theory true, only this time come out on the right side of the Super Bowl rather than suffering a tough three-point loss like last time.
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The Bengals have a big believer in Clark, and if Cincinnati gets off to a hot start, it won’t be long before many others hop back on the bandwagon, too. There’s enough of a foundation in Cincinnati to believe that with improved luck in the injury department, a special season could indeed be in the works.
