Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson (91) celebrates a sack in the fourth quarter of the NFL Week 1 game between the Cleveland Browns and the Cincinnati Bengals at Huntington Bank Field in Cleveland on Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025. The Bengals begin the season with a 17-16 win over the Browns. Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

National Analyst 'Ecstatic' About Bengals Following Their Win Over Browns

Originally posted on Cincinnati Bengals on SI
By Landon Belote | Last updated Sep 9, 2025 7:49 AM ET

CINCINNATI ---- The Bengals earned praise from the national media on Monday morning following the teams following the teams 17-16 win over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.

Former NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky is envouraged by what he saw from the Bengals.

"I'm ecstatic about Cincinnati. I feel so much better if I'm Cincinnati than I did going into it. Guys their offense is going to be [fine]. They won, their defense looked so much better, I mean their defense looked significantly improved." Orlovsky said.

Former Jets head coach Rex Ryan attempted to dismiss Cincinnati's defensive performance by emphasizing that they played against the Browns, but Orlovsky continued to praise the Bengals.

"Their defense looked better, they gave up 16 points," he said. "The only thing they didn't do great was protect the middle of the field, but they ran to the football better, they tackled the ball better, I would be wildly encouraged, they're 1-0!"

ESPN Insider, Adam Schefter then chimed in and made this argument:

"Opening week is the week, that coaches just feel very weirdly about weird things happening. If you leave week one with a road win, isn't that all that matters?" Schefter emphasized.

That did not stop Ryan from giving his thoughts on the matter:

"You're happy as heck that you won the game and you coached like crazy, but the whole thing in the offseason was about 'how we're gonna get our team to be poppin out of our skin and playing at a level we do at the end of the season?' Look, nobody wants to play this team at the end of the season, why can't you make that at the beginning of the season?"

Watch the full segment and get more of our thoughts below:

.@danorlovsky7 says he's ecstatic about the Bengals pic.twitter.com/XUzQC0qb67
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) September 8, 2025

Bottom Line

There is no denying that the Bengals' offense once again started slow. But, with that in mind, we saw something that we did not see at all last season. The defense got crucial takeaways and stops when they needed them most.

Jordan Battle and DJ Turner both had big-time acrobatic interceptions on Sunday afternoon in moments that put the Bengals in position to score and close out the game.

There is obviously room for improvement, but nobody in the fanbase should be doubting the offense and Joe Burrow following Sunday's week one victory, as we saw the unit make a big leap even last season from week one to week two when they went toe to toe with Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Bengals did what they needed to do and obtained a Week 1 victory. That's a step in the right direction, even if it wasn't pretty.

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