Ari Meirov Is Betting Big on the Cincinnati Bengals This Season

The 2026 NFL season is officially underway with the Seattle Seahawks hosting the New England Patriots to kick off the year with a Super Bowl LX rematch. Prior to kickoff, a highly respected NFL insider released his predictions for award winners and his Super Bowl LXI winner.

Ari Meirov officially locked in his predictions on X on Wednesday evening, outlining his winners for Most Valuable Player, Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year, Comeback Player of the Year and much more, and he was very high on the Cincinnati Bengals.

He gave the MVP nod to Joe Burrow, saying he will play all 17 games and lead one of the best offenses in the league. But his love of the Bengals didn’t stop there.

Meirov went on to say that he sees a matchup of the same two teams who played in the last Super Bowl at SoFi Stadium, with Cincinnati taking on Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams. This time, however, he has the Bengals being the ones to raise the Lombardi Trophy at midfield.

The prediction comes after Cincinnati made a significant effort to improve the roster around Burrow this offseason. The Bengals added several high-profile pieces to a defense that struggled throughout the 2025 season, most notably defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II, while also bringing in Jonathan Allen, Boye Mafe and Bryan Cook.

With those additions, Meirov said that Burrow won’t have to be the hero every week for the Bengals to be good.

For years, Cincinnati's ceiling has largely been determined by whether its defense could keep pace with Burrow and the offense. Meirov's prediction suggests he believes the additions on that side of the ball can finally give the Bengals the complementary unit they've been missing.

If this prediction comes true, Cincinnati would get an opportunity to rewrite one of the most painful moments in franchise history. The Bengals and Rams previously met in Super Bowl LVI, with Los Angeles escaping with a 23-20 victory. This time, Meirov believes Burrow and the Bengals would get the final word.

For a Bengals team coming off a disappointing 6-11 season, Meirov's predictions represent a massive change in expectations. Instead of simply returning to the playoffs, he believes Cincinnati has the quarterback, weapons and defensive talent necessary to win the entire thing. The first step toward proving him right begins Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 1.