The Bengals opened their preseason Thursday night in the rain at Paycor Stadium, and the first team got a brief but revealing look at where things stood against the Lions.
Ted Karras and Dexter Lawrence led the Bengals out as captains to start the game, another indication of how fully Lawrence has settled in since Cincinnati traded for the massive defensive tackle. By the feel of it, he hardly had time to unpack before he was already part of the fabric.
Cincinnati’s starting defense spent most of its time facing Detroit’s backup offense, and the Lions moved the ball early before the Bengals got a break. A deflection off the facemask of Lions receiver Isaac TeSlaa turned into a Jordan Battle interception and stopped that drive cold.
Joe Burrow’s first series produced one first down, highlighted by a strong completion to Ja’Marr Chase, but a sack on second down ended the possession in a hurry. The pressure looked like a product of solid coverage, with Burrow forced to hold the ball a little longer than he wanted.
The next defensive series was short and efficient, getting the ball right back to Burrow and the first-team offense. Dexter Lawrence and Jonathan Allen sat out that second drive, giving the veteran pair the rest of the night.
When Burrow returned, the Bengals leaned heavily on quick throws underneath. Chase Brown and Samaje Perine shared a lot of the work with the starters, as expected.
The drive stalled when Orlando Brown Jr. gave up a sack off the edge, and the Bengals were stopped on third down. That remains a real concern for Cincinnati at this point in his career, especially against speed coming around the corner.
Evan McPherson then salvaged the series with a 56-yard field goal that looked like it would have been good from roughly 65 yards.
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