Raymond Johnson had a pass breakup on Washington’s first drive to force a turnover on downs, and the Bengals responded with a scoring drive to take the lead. Evan McPherson added a pair of field goals, and then Reid Sinnett threw a touchdown pass in the fourth quarter for the final score.
Here are five takeaways from the game Saturday.
1. No wins, no sweat
The Bengals don’t need to worry about not getting results in preseason, but the question now will be if the lack of reps will impact how the regular season starts.
Only the defensive starters got playing time – one drive in the second game, a tie at Atlanta – and right tackle Jonah Williams also played a drive in that game to allow him a chance to settle into his new position and feel comfortable coming back from his knee injury.
Joe Burrow and the offense had wanted playing time this preseason in order to get shake off some of the rust they might feel playing in a game for the first time Week 1. Burrow’s calf injury made that a moot issue to some extent because the offense wasn’t running smoothly under the backups most of camp and the risk of injury to other key players wasn’t worth it. Wide receiver Tyler Boyd still thought it would have been helpful but said it wasn’t a big deal either way.
The Bengals got off to an 0-2 start in 2022 and Burrow had five turnovers. He still hasn’t begun practicing so the clock is ticking on when he can start getting ready. Cincinnati didn’t want to rush him. He’s been throwing and working in the weight room in the meantime.
2. Quarterbacks show progress
Jake Browning threw the first passing touchdown of the Bengals’ preseason to cap a 10-play, 61-yard drive, and he was replaced by Trevor Siemian after just two drives. Bengals coach Zac Taylor had said he wanted to give Reid Sinnett some playing time, so it was expected both backup quarterback candidates would have shorter stints Saturday, but Browning’s day ending so early might be an indication the coaches had seen enough.
The touchdown pass was a 7-yarder to Iosivas, who continued his impressive preseason. Browning completed all 6 of his passes for 42 yards, including a long of 25 to Iosivas. He also had a 19-yard pass to Tanner Hudson that was negated by a penalty.
Trevor Siemian also looked pretty solid in the second quarter until he was picked off in end zone in the final minute. The Bengals were in a second-and-10 from the 26-yard line and Siemian made a poor decision on the pass. Siemian led five drives and was replaced by Sinnett with about 10 minutes left in the game. He completed 14 of 23 passes for 133 yards with one interception.
3. Ossai injury concerning
Joseph Ossai left the game in the first half and was declared out because of a right ankle injury. He was the biggest contributor on the field for the Bengals on Saturday with none of the starters playing, and he’s been the 12th man on defense as someone expected to play a lot of snaps in a rotational role at defensive end or in other packages.
Last year was Ossai’s first season on the field after his rookie season was thwarted by a pair of season-ending injuries suffered in the preseason.
Taylor indicated in his post-game press conference, which was also streamed live on social media, that Ossai “needed the reps,” so that is why he was in the game. He didn’t have any information on the seriousness of the injury but said “it could be a sprain.”
4. Positive signs in running game
Chase Brown looked much more efficient and left a better impression on the running game than the first two games. Cincinnati has been without Trayveon Williams because of an ankle injury, and with Joe Mixon not playing in preseason, there hasn’t been much from the ground attack.
On Saturday, Brown got “a lot of ugly yards,” as Taylor called it.
Brown finished with 39 yards on 11 carries (3.5 yards per attempt). He had 17 carries for 30 yards combined between the first two games, so he finished with just 2.5 yards per carry for the preseason, but finishing strong sends him into a better spot with roster decisions needing to be made and uncertainty over Williams’ status going forward.
5. McPherson back to “Money Mac”
The dropoff in Evan McPherson’s performances in his second season don’t seem to be carrying over into Year 3. He went 8-for-8 on field goal attempts this preseason and nailed a 58-yarder Saturday that gave the Bengals a 10-7 lead in the second quarter.
There have been just 18 field goals of at least 58 yards in the preseason since 2015, and McPherson has two of them. He also hit one from 58 yards last year. McPherson recorded three field goals of 50 yards or more in the preseason.
The former Florida kicker made 24 of 29 field goals last year, which was the same number of misses as 2021 but on fewer tries, but more concerning was that he missed four extra-point attempts. Part of that might have been getting used to a new longer snapper and holder after Cal Adomitis took over as longer snapper when Clark Harris suffered a season-ending injury in Week 1, and Drue Chrisman replaced Kevin Huber as punter/holder midseason.
McPherson likely will have another new holder this year with Brad Robbins expected to overtake Chrisman in the punter role, but Robbins has more college experience as a holder than Chrisman did.
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