Cincinnati Bengals NFL Schedule Roasts Opponents With Pokemon

The Cincinnati Bengals used Love for franchise QB Joe Burrow Pokemon franchise as a way to reveal and roast who they will face in the 2026 NFL season. Bengalis experimented with different critters Pokemon series to describe their upcoming opponents, including some notable jabs taken at their three AFC North division rivals.

Although the Cincinnati QB is known for his competitiveness and his leadership on the gridiron, Burrow is also a hobbyist. Pokemon the fan During the 2025 NFL season, Burrow said who he was a fan of Pokemon trading card game. Burrow said he found the current culture of throwing open packs of cards into grades and selling them “an odd one” that has taken off on social media. Burrow also revealed some of his favorites Pokemon The cards are from an older generation, and Mewtwo, Zapdos, and Blaziken are mentioned among his top picks.

NFL opponents compared to Pokemon

While the 2026 NFL season is still four months away as of this writing, that hasn't stopped the Bengals from having a little fun at their opponents' expense. The Bengals took to Twitter to reveal the opponents they will face in the upcoming season. Additionally, Bengalis used images Pokemon franchise as a way to roast or praise their NFL opponents. To begin with, the trash bag Pokemon called Trubbish was used to describe one of the Bengals' oldest enemies, the Cleveland Browns. Although the Bengals finished the 2025 NFL season 6–11 and missed the playoffs, the Browns fared poorly with a 5–12 record. As AFC North division foes, the Bengals will face the Browns twice in the 2026 NFL season, one game in Cincinnati and the other in Cleveland.

Cincinnati Bengals 2026 NFL Season Opponents as Pokemon

• Cleveland Browns – Trubish

• Pittsburgh Steelers – Klang

• Miami Dolphins – MagiCorp

• Kansas City Chiefs – Zebstrika

• Jacksonville Jaguars – Persian

• Tennessee Titans – Shining AgeSlash

• New Orleans Saints – Superior

• Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Dhelmise

• Houston Texans – Tauros

• Indianapolis Colts – Ponyta

• Atlanta Falcons – Piggy

• Carolina Panthers – Luxray

• Washington Commander – Lechonk

• Baltimore Ravens – TM27 (Return)

For the Pittsburgh Steelers, a Gen 5 Steel-type Pokemon called Klang was used as a fitting descriptor, because of Pittsburgh's longtime nickname for the Steel City. Other Pokemon featured by the Bengals for teams facing off this coming NFL season include Magikarp for the Miami Dolphins, Persian for the Jacksonville Jaguars, and Gen 9 Hug Pokemon Lechonk for the Washington Commanders. The inclusion of Lechonk is a reference to Major Tuddy, the commander's costume mascot introduced in 2023.

However, the Bengals used a specific point of comparison for their fiercest division rival, the Baltimore Ravens. Instead of using paper Pokémon like Murkrow or Korviknite, the Bengals chose TM27 (Return) as the descriptor for the Baltimore-based foes. in many Pokemon games, Return is a normal-type move that becomes more powerful if the user has a high friendship rating with its trainer. Although the returns may be Nifty TM to use Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreenIn Gen 8 and later this is not a usable trick. It is unclear at this time why Return was chosen to represent the Ravens on the Bengals' schedule.

In response to Bengal Pokemon Comparisons, some fans compared the Cincinnati NFL team to powerful fire-type Pokemon like Incinerator and Arcanine. The Bengals and the rest of the NFL's teams will see their complete schedules, including dates and kickoff times, revealed during a special NFL Network presentation on Thursday, May 14, at 8:00 PM Eastern.