Winning by default is still a win and the Cincinnati Bengals have done just that. They are now ahead of every team in the AFC North.
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The Jets and Giants had busy offseasons to set their new coaching staffs, but it was nothing compared to what went down in the AFC North. Prior to 2025, it could’ve been argued that the North division of the AFC had the best collection of coaches in the NFL. Mike Tomlin and John Harbaugh were legends. Kevin Stefanski was a highly touted and highly successful coach that had fallen on hard times in Cleveland thanks to the quarterback debacles. Lastly was Zac Taylor; probably the worst of the bunch but a solid name to have as a division’s worst guy.
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Cut to winter of 2026, and the three elite guys are all gone. Taylor is the only one who remains, which is incredibly ironic considering each of Pittsburgh’s, Baltimore’s, and Cleveland’s fanbase was clambering for a coaching change less than Cincinnati fans wanted Taylor gone. Alas, Taylor was the last one standing.
We would say there is some grand takeaway here, but the simplest explanation might be that the Cincinnati Bengals organization is cheap and wouldn’t pay to remove one coach and add a second, while all the other changes were matter of circumstance. Those circumstances are what makes this division so interesting for 2026 though. All of the Steelers, Ravens, and Browns got a worse coach than they had previously! Congratulations to the Cincinnati Bengals. You’re the big winner.
AFC North Coaching Turmoil Favors Cincinnati Bengals
Don’t Say I Didn’t Warn You
Todd Salem: Every team feels worst off, except the one who did not make a coaching change. Tomlin and Harbaugh wore out their welcomes after all those years; they stopped having enough of an impact on the locker room; their message was being lost. However you want to word it, it was time to move on. That being said, no one surely thinks Mike McCarthy is a better coach than Mike Tomlin or Jesse Minter is a better coach than John Harbaugh. If you want to push back on Minter because he’s an unknown at this point, sure. But he’s inexperienced at the NFL level and has never led an elite defense. What is the best-case scenario, that he becomes almost as good as Harbaugh already was?
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And then we have Cleveland hiring Todd Monken, who was so disappointing and/or unpopular in his previous role that Harbaugh not firing him is what caused the rift that led to Harbaugh himself being let go. Again, maybe Monken will turn out to be a good coach, but is he really going to be better than two-time Coach of the Year Kevin Stefanski?
All this upheaval works in Cincinnati’s favor. The Bengals enter the 2026 season as the only North team with experience and cohesion. They have mostly been done in by injuries in recent years, but if we’re handicapping the division, that consistency on the sidelines has to give them some sort of leg up on the competition.
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It is hard enough to move on from a legendary coach, but fan bases want hope after a monumental change like that. I suppose Minter and Monken should be categorized as providing that (get out of here if you think McCarthy makes a fanbase hopeful for the future) since they are unknowns as head coaches, but color me underwhelmed. If I’m jettisoning a great coach, I want it to be for another great coach, or a young, offensive guru. Anything else is just making a move for the move’s sake.
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Some Things Never Change
Dan Salem: Tomlin’s exit in Pittsburgh was inevitable, as was Harbaugh’s exit in Baltimore, but the Browns got a little too excited and jumped on a bandwagon they shouldn’t have. Starting in Cleveland, it’s easy to see how there was a rift between the coach and GM, but despite being handicapped with three (four?) quarterbacks, Stefanski still did better than expected last season. He consistently achieves more with less, which is something I no longer expect from his former team in 2026. Why Browns, why?
Nothing about this coaching turnover particularly favors the Bengals, however. They have too many of their own issues for any of this to matter. Stay healthy and play better defense. Do that and Cincinnati will be competing for the AFC North division title. They have been unable to do both in recent years, so let’s move on to Baltimore and Pittsburgh.
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The Ravens were never going to upgrade from Harbaugh, but is their new coach anything more than a gap-fill until Lamar Jackson retires? Jackson is of course going to play multiple more seasons, but it’s his team now. Everything revolves around Jackson, as it already has. However, there is no longer a hall-of-fame coach to hold things together, or muddy the waters, depending on your outlook of the past few seasons. I expect Baltimore to be good, because Jackson is great, but I’m dubious of the team’s ability to be any better than they have been.
Last but not least are the Steelers, who have the best shot at being just as good as they were last season. Assuming Aaron Rodgers returns, he will reunite with McCarthy, which should at the very least lead to a similar finish of 9 or 10 wins. The ceiling isn’t particularly high, though. McCarthy is rusty and Rodgers is more limited than he lets on, so Pittsburgh will need a strong defense and run game. That was Tomlin’s specialty. I’m not sure what McCarthy’s specialty is.
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While predictable, I don’t think any of these coaching changes will be for the better in the immediate future. I suppose that ultimately benefits the Bengals, but I still give the edge to a healthy Lamar Jackson. The AFC North was once a dominant and highly competitive division, producing multiple playoff teams. I’d put my money on quite the opposite in 2026.
Meet our Sports Writers:
Dan Salem is Lead Editor and Co-owner of BuzzChomp. He’s an award winning Actor, Director and Producer. Visit M Square Productions for his film work, or get lost in his old-school comedy on Pillow Talk TV. You can follow him on X, TikTok and Instagram. His latest film ‘Alone’ is now on Amazon.
Todd Salem is a Staff Writer and Contributing Editor at BuzzChomp. He’s also a champion of fantasy football and fantasy baseball, dominating leagues for over two decades. Comment below on his unfiltered opinions.
Cincinnati Bengals Win By Default – This Is The End
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