The Cincinnati Bengals mean business this year. And it showed in how they carried themselves in preseason games.
After defeating the Chicago Bears 27-9, the Bengals went out last night and beat the Philadelphia Eagles 30-13. They finished 3-0 in the preseason.
Here’s what we learned from the win over the Eagles (or, in some cases, what it solidified).
Josh Johnson will land somewhere
He may be 40 years old, but Johnson can still sling it, as evidenced by his last two outings for the Bengals in preseason wins over the Bears and Eagles.
Johnson was composed, accurate, and efficient in those two games after a rough start in the preseason opener against the Detroit Lions.
Though he won’t land on the opening roster, he, at the very least, deserves a spot on the practice squad, though it’s likely another team will snatch him up, especially after a QB goes down.
This team is hungry
Yes, the games don’t count, but there are still a lot of world-class athletes playing with their futures on the line. So when the Bengals blow out teams in back-to-back games, that says something.
Zac Taylor was animated on the sideline, clearly coaching like his job depends on it as well.
And the defense kept coming, allowing only two touchdowns the entire preseason.
Meanwhile, practice squad type offensive players were breaking off big runs.
These are all great signs.
The defense has pride again
The Bengals allowed a total of 36 points in three preseason games. This is while they scored 73 points, so they weren’t exactly preseason snoozefests.
It is now clear that there’s a reason the Bengals replaced Lou Anarumo with Al Golden. While the former is brilliant with the right pieces, the latter knows how to inspire young players. And he seems to have done that again in Cincinnati.
Those young players will get to team with the veterans the team brought in through free agency, who have all shown flashes of what they can do for the Bengals in practice and the preseason.
It seems safe to say that this defense won’t get embarrassed the way previous ones did in the last couple of years.
