Bengals International Opponent Names 2026 Starting Quarterback

The Bengals know who they are facing at quarterback when they travel to Madrid in November, at least for right now. The Atlanta Falcons named Tua Tagovailoa their starting quarterback, according to multiple reports on Monday morning.

The former Dolphins starter has looked pretty bad all preseason, but won the job by default as former starter Michael Penix Jr. continues to recover from his latest major knee injury.

The Falcons are projected to be one of the worst teams in the NFC this coming season as Cincinnati is set to face them in Madrid, Spain on Nov. 8 at 9:30 am ET on NFL Network.

"Let's actually start with the Atlanta Falcons," Ian Rapoport said on NFL Network this morning. "We now have some breaking news in Atlanta. Tua Tagovailoa has been named their starting quarterback. Coach Kevin Stefanski has been in the quarterback room, meeting with the quarterbacks and informing them of his decision. This happened just in the last several minutes. So Tua Tagovailoa, at long last, is going to be the starter in Atlanta, and now the final team to name a starting quarterback. This was one where certainly it had some ups and downs. I think the hope at the beginning of camp was for Tua to come out and just win the job, let Michael Penix rest and rehab and recover and that was certainly not the case.

"Tua has left a little bit to be desired. Michael Penix Jr. has participated in 11 on 11. We'll see if he's got a chance. Ultimately, Penix did not believe that he was ready. Has barely practiced. The hope is to get him a couple more weeks, get that ACL recovery to a good point where you could put him on the field before Week 1. Well, right now, Tua Tagovailoa is the starting quarterback in Atlanta.

Tagovailoa was pretty atrocious last season, posting a 37.5 ESPN QBR, ranking 26th out of 28 qualified quarterbacks.

He is now leading a team with a 6.5-win total line on DraftKings Sportsbook (-150 to go over). Cincinnati may be facing Penix when things get ramped up for that game in a few months.

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