7 winners and 3 losers from the Bengals’ 27-9 win vs. Bears

The Cincinnati Bengals played their second of three preseason games—and their last one in front of a home crowd—on Saturday night. They put on a show for the home crowd, defeating the Bears by a final score of 27-9 and moving to a meaningless 2-0 to start the 2026 campaign.

Even though the game didn’t matter, and even though the Bengals rested their starters, there was a lot to be excited about (and a couple of things that weren’t so exciting).

Here are this year’s winners and losers.

Colbie Young

The positions of WR1 and WR2 are set in stone, and so are WR3 and WR4 as well. It’s possible that WR5 and WR6 are up for grabs, though, and there are three people vying for those two last spots. Colbie Young may have sealed one of those two spots on Sunday.

Trailing 6-3 late in the second quarter, Young beat his man deep down the right sideline and caught a pass from Josh Johnson in the end zone to give the Bengals a 10-6 lead. He finished with three receptions for 48 yards (which led the team) and a touchdown.

Dohnte Meyers

Meyers has been a camp favorite for many Bengals fans this offseason, and he was impressive during both preseason games so far. With Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase sidelined for the team’s second preseason game, it was Young and Meyers leading the receiving room. He finished Saturday night’s game with five catches (which led the team) for 41 yards, as well as one run for nine yards.

Josh Johnson

The first half wasn’t super exciting offensively, but against the Bears’ starting defense, Johnson was able to move the ball down the field on a 14-play, 62-yard drive that ended in an Evan McPherson field goal. He later found Young in the end zone in the second quarter to take a four-point lead. He wrapped up his performance by leading the Bengals on another scoring drive, finding Tanner Hudson in the end zone with less than 30 seconds left in the half, giving the Bengals a 17-6 lead.

Johnson may not play football in Cincinnati this year because of the Joe’s, but he showed he can still play. He played the entire first half and completed 15 of 23 passes for 156 yards and two touchdowns.

Tanner Hudson

Drew Sample and Mike Gesicki are on top of the depth chart, and Erick All Jr. is healthy. Jack Endries fell to the Bengals in the seventh round and has been impressive in the small amount of time we’ve seen him on the field. All of this means the pressure is on for Hudson.

Hudson caught Johnson’s second touchdown pass in the second quarter from the six-yard line, giving the Bengals a two-score lead. I don’t think Hudson is on the outside looking in, but I don’t think his roster spot is set in stone either, so producing when he’s on the field is important.

Landon Robinson

Robinson is a seventh-round rookie on a team with a very deep defensive tackle rotation, thanks to the offseason additions of Dexter Lawrence, Jonathan Allen, and others. With last year’s starters on the depth chart listed as backups, seeing Robinson knock down passes at the line of scrimmage in key moments and recording his first multiple-sack game gives me hope that the Bengals’ defensive line rotation will be outstanding in 2026.

Al Golden

The Bengals rested their starters on Saturday, which meant the Bengals’ defensive backups started the game against the Bears’ starting offense. It wouldn’t be that way for the whole game, as the Bears’ starters only played for a short period of time, but throughout the entire game, Golden’s defense was able to keep the Bears out of the end zone.

The Bengals really only need a mediocre defense out of Golden’s crew, but he could piece together a top-10 unit with this roster.

Evan McPherson

Money Mac was two for two on field goals, including a 58-yarder, and made all three extra points. He’s been good from 56, 33, 41, 25, and 58.

Hopefully that continues into the regular season.

Any wide receiver not named Young, Meyers, or Tinsley

Like I said above, the Bengals’ wide receiver position is loaded, and, at most, one or two spots are up for grabs. Those two spots are going to go to some combination of Young, Meyers, or Tinsley, which means anyone else on the team is going to be hoping for a practice squad position at best.

Cody Ford

Ford struggled badly on Saturday night against the Bears. He started the game at right guard and was called for two holding penalties and two false starts, all in the first half. It was Jalen Rivers who started at left tackle for the Bengals on Sunday, which means that Cody Ford, who was in consideration to be the team’s swing tackle, could be on the outs.

The Bengals may need to think about adding depth along the offensive line before the season starts.

Josh Newton

Newton has struggled throughout camp this year and has reportedly been in the “doghouse.” With that said, it wasn’t a good time for Newton to get beat badly by Jahdae Walker down the left sideline for a 36-yard completion. That was the longest completion of the night for the Bears.

Who was your biggest winner tonight? Sound off in the comments!