The Bengals took on the Washington Football Team in their second of three preseason contests. After beating the defending Super Bowl Champion Buccaneers last week, the Bengals dropped this one, by a score of 17-13.
The game started off slowly for both offences, as the first drive for each team ended in a punt.
Things started to get a little more interesting on Washington’s second drive. After starting with good field position, a couple of Gibson runs, along with a few short passes by Ryan Fitzpatrick, got their offence close to the redzone. However, the Bengals defence did not break. Antonio Gibson took the handoff on 4th and short, and Logan Wilson and DJ Reader combined to stop him short of the 1st down marker.
On the next Washington drive, the defence made their presence felt once again. Ryan Fitzpatick completed a pass to Cam Sims, who then had the ball stripped by Logan Wilson. Mike Hilton recovered the fumble.
While the Bengals offence was not able to use the good starting field position to get into the endzone, they were able to get inside the redzone. A drop by Ja’Marr Chase on 3rd & 5 forced the Bengals to kick a field goal. It was Evan McPherson who opened the scoring, making it 3-0 for the road team.
After going down 3-0, the Washington offence was able to match the Bengals field goal. The went 64 yards down the field, with Antonio Gibson picking up 30 of them, and another 29 coming on a long bomb to Dyami Brown. Their offence stalled out at the Bengals 16, and a Dustin Hopkins field goal tied the score at 3.
In the second quarter, each of the teams’ opening two drives resulted in a punt. It was Washington that put up the only points in the second quarter. With Taylor Heinicke in at QB, the Washington offence went 56 yards down the field. For a second, the Bengals thought that they had forced another turnover, as Markus Bailey came up with the ball. The play was originally ruled an interception, but after further review, it was ruled that the ball had first hit the ground. Incomplete pass. On 3rd & 2 from the Cincinnati 13, Heinicke tried for the endzone, throwing up a pass for Cam Sims. However, Winston Rose was able to force him to land out of bounds. Dustin Hopkins’ field goal made it 6-3 for Washington.
The Bengals got the ball to start the second half, and they were able to take full advantage. With the help of an 18 yard pass from Allen to Auden Tate, and a 17 yard Chris Evans run, the Bengals were driving down the field. Allen then completed a pass to Trent Irwin, who was able to get to the 1 yard line before fumbling the ball. Luckily for the Bengals, an unnecessary roughness penalty allowed the Bengals to keep the ball at the 1. On 1st & goal, Brandon Allen was able to sneak up the middle for the TD. Austin Seibert’s extra point made it 10-6 for the Bengals.
On the very next drive, Washington was able to answer with some points of their own. This drive was largely the Jaret Patterson show, as he picked up 22 of the teams 49 yards on that drive. It was also his 37 yard return that set Washington up with good field position. In the end, they could only get as far as the Bengals 12 yard line. Another Hopkins field goal cut the Bengals lead to only 1, making the score 10-9.
Late in the third quarter, Kyle Shurmur was under pressure and had the ball knocked loose, allowing Washington to recover. This time, their offence was able to take advantage. Jaret Patterson was a big part in this drive too, and it was his one yard rush that put the Washington Football Team into the end zone. Kyle Allen found Antonio Gandy-Golden on the fade for the 2 point conversion, making the score 17-10.
Eric Dungey was in at QB for the Bengals to start their next drive. He got things going with an 11 yard run, and some nice runs from Jacques Patrick helped get them down the field. The drive ended with an Evan McPherson 50 yard field goal, making the score 17-13.
That is as close as the Bengals would come. On their final drive, Dungey scrambled out to his left on 4th & 2. He attempted to run for the 1st down, but was stopped just short. Washington took the ball over on downs and ran out the rest of the clock.
The Bengals sit at 1-1 through the first two preseason games. They will finish off their preseason at home against the Dolphins on August 29.
Modified Homescreen Image Via: Erik Drost (CC)