When Joe Burrow joined the Cincinnati Bengals in 2020 after a Heisman Trophy- winning and national championship-winning 2019 season with LSU, he hoped to continue the momentum in the NFL. Six seasons later, Burrow has yet to win a Super Bowl. However, heading into the 2026 season, the Bengals QB has a changed demeanor and confidence in his team while discussing their Super Bowl chances.

“I just want to win this year. I just want to win,” Burrow said on the Chasing No 1 podcast. “The rest will take care of itself. I think we’ll break a bunch of records eventually, and but I think we’re going to have a really good team that has a chance to win every game that we step foot on the field for. I could really feel it in my bones, in my soul, in OTAs this year.

“We brought in a lot of the right guys, a lot of the right people with the right mindsets to go and chase this goal of winning a Super Bowl and winning as many games as we can and being the best possible team that we can. I felt it from our D-line. And I felt it from our defense… We felt that for the last couple of years, as good as we’ve been, but these veteran guys that we’ve brought in on defense to be able to help our younger guys. That’s got to be a thing.”

There were two concerns around the Cincinnati Bengals last season. First, Joe Burrow suffered a Grade 3 turf toe injury in Week 2 of the 2025 season during a matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars, which kept the QB sidelined till Week 12.

Additionally, the Bengals’ defense was quite in shambles last season. They finished with a 6-11 record, where the defense allowed 28.9 points per game (30th in the NFL) and 382.0 total yards allowed per game (31st in the NFL).

One can argue that the reason behind these poor rankings was a heavy reliance on a young core instead of a veteran defensive unit. Meanwhile, the veterans they had on the roster either struggled with form or missed time. OLB Trey Hendrickson missed significant time due to injury and played only seven games.

However, heading into the 2026 season, the Cincinnati Bengals underwent a defensive overhaul, roping in several veteran players. Dexter Lawrence II (DT), Jonathan Allen (DT), Boye Mafe (DE), T.J. Slaton Jr. (DT), Oren Burks (LB), Kyle Dugger (S), and Bryan Cook (S) are some of the names the franchise brought in.

Meanwhile, Joe Burrow remains excited to see one particular defenseman perform for Cincinnati in the upcoming season.

“I’m excited to see Dex in uniform,” Burrow added. “You know, we had him on media day, and I was like, man, those stripes look good on you. I’m just excited to see what he can do for us”

Since Joe Burrow joined the Bengals in 2020, they have come close to winning the Super Bowl only once in his second year with the franchise, when he racked up 4,611 passing yards in the regular season, then followed it up with 1,105 yards in four playoff games.