Joe Burrow’s night in Cincinnati’s preseason opener was short, efficient and a little bruising.
The Bengals quarterback played 12 snaps Thursday night and finished 5 of 6 for 39 yards, with the Lions leading 10-6 at halftime. Burrow got through most of his work cleanly, but the one miss came after Detroit edge rusher Eric O’Neill broke free for a heavy shot that knocked the play off track.
Burrow’s first drive ended with a third-down sack. On the Bengals’ second possession, O’Neill - an undrafted rookie from Rutgers who had only 2.5 sacks in his college career - blew past left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. and hit Burrow just as he was trying to get the ball to Drew Sample. That became Burrow’s lone incompletion of the night.
He still had a few sharp moments before Zac Taylor shut down the starters after the second drive. Burrow’s biggest gain came on a 16-yard in-breaker to Ja’Marr Chase on the opening series.
And on third-and-2 on the next drive, he made the safer choice, checking down to Sample for 2 yards even though he had room to scramble for more. Sample was covered, but the throw was enough to move the chains.
Cincinnati also leaned into a look it has used more often this offseason and in training camp, with Burrow under center on seven of his 12 snaps.
The Bengals’ first-team work gave way to the rest of the roster, though wide receiver Andrei Iosivas stayed in for multiple snaps on those first two drives. After a 12-play march ended with Kendall Milton losing a fumble in the end zone, Joe Flacco hit rookie tight end Jack Endries for a 4-yard touchdown to open the scoring. That made it 10-0 Bengals after Evan McPherson’s 56-yard field goal following Burrow’s final snap.
The rookie theme kept rolling for Cincinnati on defense. Landon Robinson generated pressure while being held, helping put Detroit in a first-and-16 hole, and Cashius Howell recovered a fumble at the Lions’ 7-yard line. Two plays later, Endries completed the sequence with the touchdown.
Detroit got something back before halftime when Josh Johnson replaced Flacco and was flagged for intentional grounding, setting up a 52-yard field goal.
In Other News...
Bengals Passed On One EDGE And The Debate Just Got Louder
The 2025 draft has already become a talking point for Cincinnati because of the different paths taken by two edge rushers who were on the board at the same time. Atlanta went with James Pearce Jr., while the Bengals chose Shemar Stewart, and the comparison has only sharpened as both franchises wait for those decisions to play out on the field. For Cincinnati, the appeal was obvious at the time: a young defender with big traits who could grow into a long-term piece up front.
The problem is that the early returns have not brought much clarity. Stewart has not yet matched the kind of impact the Bengals were hoping for, and his current injury only adds another layer to a pick that is still being judged. Pearce, meanwhile, is now creating a different kind of headache for Atlanta, which is why the debate over which team handled the draft slot better is only getting louder. [Read more 🡒]
Bengals Depth Battle Already Produced Some Early Standouts
The Bengals preseason opener against the Lions was less about the headline names and more about the players trying to force their way into the conversation. With Joe Burrow and other starters seeing limited work, Cincinnati leaned on a mix of new defensive additions and young depth pieces in a 16-14 win that offered an early look at how the back end of the roster might begin to take shape.
Dexter Lawrence and Jonathan Allen drew plenty of attention as part of the defenses new look, but the more immediate intrigue came from the turnover swings and timely snaps made by players battling for jobs. In August, those are the kinds of moments that matter most, and the Bengals already have a few standouts making the case that this competition could get interesting well before cutdown day. [Read more 🡒]
Swayze Bozeman Is Suddenly Pressuring One Thin Bengals Position Group
Swayze Bozeman has spent the Bengals preseason making himself harder to ignore, and that matters in a linebacker room that could use another steady body. The undrafted defender, who was claimed off waivers in May after previous stops with the Chiefs, Bears and Giants, has flashed the kind of athleticism teams tend to chase when they are sorting through the bottom of the roster. He has been working with the second-team defense and generally looks like a player who has forced the staff to keep looking.
For Cincinnati, the appeal is obvious because the path is there if he keeps stacking useful snaps. Bozemans early work has put real pressure on a thin position group, and the Bengals will have to decide whether his preseason momentum is enough to carry him into roster discussions when cuts arrive. There is still a lot to sort out, but he has done enough already to make the conversation more interesting than expected. [Read more 🡒]