The Bengals fall to the Miami Dolphins 29-26 in the preseason finale.
After the Bengals forced a punt on the Dolphins opening drive, Joe Burrow got into his first and only drive of the preseason. It was largely uneventful, as the Bengals likely didn’t want to put him at too much risk. The drive consisted of a couple of hand offs, a screen pass to Ja’Marr Chase that was dropped, and a punt.
The teams each had one more drive in the first quarter. The Dolphins marched down the field for a TD on a big 13 play drive that lasted 7:09. The Bengals responded with a TD pass of their own. Brandon Allen was able to drop the ball in the bucket for Chris Evans, resulting in a 29 yard TD.
On the next Dolphins drive, Trayvon Henderson came in for a nicked up Brandon Wilson. He proceeded to have a stop in the backfield and an interception in only a handful of plays.
With the offence back on the field, Brandon Allen was able to lead them into the redzone. The drive, however, stalled, and Austin Seibert kicked a 36 yard field goal, making the score 10-7 for the Bengals.
The Dolphins came out in the next series and marched down the field for a second time. Reid Sinnett was hitting on some intermediate passes, slowly picking apart the Bengals defence. On 1st & goal, Doaks was able to punch it in for the TD from a yard out. Sanders’ extra point made it 14-10 for the Dolphins.
Working the 2 minute drill, Kyle Shurmur was able to take the Bengals 54 yards down the field. On the final play of the half, Evan McPherson hit a 57 yard field goal to cut the Dolphins lead down to 1. 14-13 Dolphins at the half.
The Bengals got the ball to start the second half. Things were slow moving on the opening drive before an 18 yard pass up the seam to Thaddeus Moss, which was followed by a 13 yard pass to Stanley Morgan. The Bengals eventually ended up on 4th down, just inside the Dolphins territory. Shurmur’s pass, intended for Morgan, was tipped. Luckily for him, the ball ended up falling right to Trent Taylor, who took the ball 45 yards down to the 1. Jacques Patrick plunged it in on the next play for the 1 yard TD. Seibert’s extra point made it 20-14 for the Bengals.
The next three drives resulted in punts — two for the Dolphins, one for the Bengals.
The next Bengals drive was one that went for 80 yards. Shurmur led them down, relying largely on the short passing game. Trayveon Williams, Jacques Patrick, Thaddeus Moss, and Stanley Morgan were all involved in this drive. It was capped off by a 9 yard TD from Shurmur to Scotty Washington. Shurmur’s pass attempt on the 2 point conversion fell incomplete, leaving the score at 26-14 for the Bengals.
On the next Dolphins drive, Sinnett was working the short passing game, piling up the small gains before eventually hitting McClain for 18 yards. A couple of plays later, he took advantage of a busted coverage by the Bengals, hitting Merritt for a 44 yard TD down the left sideline. Sanders’ extra point made it 26-21 for the Bengals.
The Dolphins late got the ball back with about 3 and a half minutes left, looking to take the lead. They got down to the Cincinnati 34, looking at 4th & 15. Sinnett, facing pressure from Hodge and Spence, was able to escape the pocket and launch a Hail Mary down the field. With maybe four or five Bengals defenders in the area, Myarick made the catch in the end zone for the 34 yard TD. A successful 2 point conversion made it 29-26 for the Dolphins.
Looking to answer back, the Bengals got down to the Dolphins 32. However, on 4th & 10, they decided to go for it, instead of attempting the game tying field goal. Shurmur’s pass, intended for Scotty Washington, fell incomplete, thus ending the game.
The Bengals finish the preseason 1-2, and will now shift focus to the regular season opener against the Vikings, which will take place two weeks from today.
Homescreen Image Via: All-Pro Reels (CC)