Boye Mafe is worried about wins, not numbers, during the 2026 Bengals season. The young edge rusher has been everything fans could ask for so far after being the top free-agent signing for Cincinnati this past offseason.
Mafe is one of the best quick-pressure rushers in the league this season (12th in total QB pressures among all players). He has a Bengals-defense-best 88.2 Pro Football Focus grade entering Week 8.
"I don't really care about my stats. My stats don't mean anything," Mafe said on Sunday. "At the end of the day, I want to win a game. I'm here to play football. At the end of the day, I want to celebrate my teammates and be around my teammates."
Mafe was lights out against the Ravens, notching five tackles and 1.5 sacks (five pressures). He's had four-plus pressures in every game but one this season.
"I feel confident. I feel comfortable. The coaches trust me," Mafe noted about how the defense is coming to him right now. "There are some things that I have to clean up, and [there are] some things that I have to do better. I want to play back a couple of plays myself, and I always strive to do better. At the end of the day, I'm not really worried about like the stats or anything like that. I just want to be able to play the best ball that I can and show the player that I can be."
Cincinnati stayed calm and responded when Mafe and his teammates entered halftime down 13-0.
They smoked Baltimore 35-0 after that.
"Yes, and it's trust in each other. We know on the offensive side of the ball what they can do and who they are. They know on the defensive side of the ball who we are, too. So, just trusting each other and just knowing that we're going to figure it out. At the end of the day, we have enough playmakers to make it happen," Mafe concluded.
Mafe and the rest of the Bengals return to practice on Wednesday as they keep building momentum entering the thick of the 2026 season.
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