The Cincinnati Bengals kicked off their NFL preseason Thursday as they hosted the Detroit Lions at a rainy Paycor Stadium.
Ted Karras and Dexter Lawrence came out as captains to start the game. This is another sign of just how bought in Lawrence has been since the Bengals traded for the massive defensive tackle. It seemed like he barely left the building after the trade went through.
The majority of the Bengals’ starting defense was going against the Lions’ backup offense. The Lions were driving right down the field until a deflection off the facemask of Lions receiver Isaac TeSlaa led to a Jordan Battle interception.
On the first drive for Joe Burrow, the Bengals got one first down on a nice pass to Ja’Marr Chase, but a sack on second down basically shut the drive down. The sack seemed like the result of good coverage by the Lions, with Burrow having to hold on to the ball a bit long.
On the second defensive series, the Bengals quickly got off the field, returning the ball to Joe Burrow and the first-team offense. Veterans Dexter Lawrence and Jonathan Allen did not play during that second drive, letting the established veterans get the rest of the night off.
Burrow was getting the ball out quickly on short passes for the majority of the second drive. As expected, Chase Brown and Samaje Perine were splitting a lot of reps with the first-team offense.
Unfortunately, pressure off the edge led to a stop on third down after Orlando Brown Jr. gave up a sack. There is real concern with his ability to handle speed off of the edge at this stage of his career.
Thankfully, Evan McPherson hit a 56-yard field goal, one that would likely have been good from about 65 yards out.
It wasn’t a large sample size, but what were your thoughts on what you saw from the Bengals’ offensive and defensive starters tonight?