The Bucs are set to open the season on the road in a tough matchup

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are opening the 2026 season with a major test on the road.

According to the NFL’s official release, the Buccaneers are set to travel to Cincinnati in Week 1 to take on Joe Burrow and the Bengals in what has immediately become one of opening weekend’s premier matchups. The Bengals still boast one of the NFL’s most dangerous offensive attacks when healthy, led by Burrow and a loaded skill group capable of turning games into shootouts quickly, including Ja'Marr Chase.

Todd Bowles’ defense will be tested immediately.

But the matchup also carries another storyline: Baker Mayfield returning to Ohio. Before revitalizing his career in Tampa Bay, Mayfield began his NFL journey with the Cleveland Browns after being selected first overall in the 2018 NFL Draft. While Cincinnati is obviously not Cleveland, the opener marks a return to the state where Mayfield’s professional career first took off and where he became one of the league’s most polarizing quarterbacks early in his career.

Now, he returns to Ohio as the established leader of a Buccaneers team with playoff expectations after a disastrous end to 2025. Tampa Bay’s offense enters 2026 looking younger and faster under offensive coordinator Zac Robinson. Week 1 against Cincinnati should immediately reveal where Tampa Bay stands.

If the Buccaneers can go into Cincinnati and trade punches offensively with Burrow and the Bengals, it would serve as an early statement that Tampa Bay belongs in the conversation among the NFC’s top contenders entering the season.