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Preseason Week 2 Bengals @ Cowboys


MrCincinnati

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After a very satisfying week 1 preseason game, the Bengals will now go on the road against the Cowboys, a team that always seems to have the Bengals number whether its preseason or regular season. The first preseason game the starters don't play very long, but the 2nd one is where it starts to get interesting.

GAMEDAY

Game Time will be this Saturday at 7 PM ET and will be live on NFL Network if you don't live in Bengal or Cowboy territory. If you do live in one of those territories, it will be still be televised on your local channel. Should you miss the game, it will be replayed twice on the NFL Network. Dates will be Sunday August 19th at 1 PM and Wednesday August 22nd at 4 PM, both on eastern time.

5 THINGS TO WATCH FOR

5. Joe Mixon - While Mixon only played on one drive in the first preseason game, he made the most out of it. He only ran for 9 yards, but caught one pass that turned into a 24 yard touchdown when he made two defenders miss him. Its very encouraging to see those type of abilities he has to become a great running, but that was just in the passing game. He struggled with the running game last year, but that was largely in part of the bad OL blocking, which became an issue in the first preseason game (will talk more of that later). With this next preseason, the starters will play longer so that means more snaps for Mixon. It will be a nice test for him against one of the better run defenses of last year.

4. Secondary: Experience vs Rookies - The backup defense surprisingly had some struggles in the first preseason game, but you could argue that was mostly on the LB's here. Aside from starting 5 guys in the secondary (counting the nickel position), there's competition behind those guys and so far the vets have the leg up. Guys like Dennard and Shaw who are heading in contracts years played very good against the Bears, although Dennard isn't in danger of losing his spot like Shaw is. The notable guys that night were Keivarae Russell and Clayton Fedejelem. While Fedejelem wasn't really in danger of losing his spot, he continue to show his worth on special teams with a fake punt that nearly turned into a 50 yard run. The biggest winner had to be Russell who had a key interception inside the redzone which took away any potential points away on a Bears drive. Meanwhile the rookies such as Davonte Harris, Darius Phillips, and Jessie Bates did play a lot of snaps but didn't do anymore to impress compared to the veterans. At the end of the day, either Harris or Phillips could get the axe should veterans like Russell and Shaw continue to play well in this next game.

3. Offensive Line Report - At first glance of the first preseason game, the Bengals offensive line gave me extremely optimism after only giving up 1 sack which came in the second half, which was something fans would figure would struggle this year. Ironically it was the run blocking that had problems as the game went on, so lets take a closer look the performance of some of these players.  First off were the guys that played good. Clint Boling to nobody's surprise had a good game, but the biggest winner was Christian Westerman who had one of the highest PFF ratings for week 1. Not a single time did he allow any pressure in the passing game, which is a good sign. Even Alex Redmond also competiting for a starting job had good marks by PFF for the first game. Next up the guys that played bad. Cedric Ogbuehi struggled badly at RT giving up 2 QB pressures, and against backups which is not a good sign for him. Trey Hopkins and Bobby Hart who both started at RG and RT had problems in the run blocking, so that won't help there cases for the starting jobs. Then there were the guys with neutral performances. Cordy Glenn was amazing with pass blocking not giving up any pressure but missed some blocks in the run game. Same thing for Billy Price who snapped the ball fine, but missed plenty of blocks in the run game. Jake Fisher who played as a backup LT last game had some struggles giving up 2 pressures, but you got to remember he's competing for the RT job, so he could of possibly fared better than Ogbuehi last night. The wildcard was Kent Perkins who only allowed one pressure, but also had 2 penalties.

2. Quarterback Progression - As I said in the last thread, QB play is always exciting for me to watch, and this game will be no different. Andy Dalton whom I thought would play only one drive in the first game ended up playing on 3 drives instead. Perhaps this could be due to the fact that the team wants him to step it up this year, and he did just that in the first game going 6 for 8 on 103 yards and 2 tds. He also had a pick six but that because of John Ross, but the pundits will say otherwise at the end of the day. You have to figure he will play the entire first half against the Cowboys who still have a very solid defense. Most importantly though I'm looking at what happens next at the backup QB position. Matt Barkley struggled badly as the #2, but Jeff Driskel who played the entire 2nd half made his case going 10 for 14 for 140 yards including the game winning TD. Woodside didn't play at all, so it seems like Driskel could possibly be the leading candidate for the backup job, but will he get an opportunity to open up as the #2 this next game, or will it be Barkley again.

1. The Talent at Wide Receiver - Last year the big story was the team having lots of talent at the WR position, and finally we got to see what some of these guys could be capable of. AJ Green who played much longer than expected in the first preseason games still showed what he can do, but he wasn't the big story. John Ross got to play lots of snaps in a game and it was a forgettable one for him, as he fell down when Dalton threw a pass at him which turned into a pick six. The next drive he appeared to bounce back when he caught a 20 yard pass, but also couldn't stay inbounds when he tried to get a touchdown at some point, but it was good to see him play finally. Josh Malone probably the best target of the night did everything he could despite having Matt Barkley throw to him had 41 yards off of 3 catches and was praised by PFF. Possibly the biggest winner was Auden Tate who is fighting for a roster spot, and maybe already sealed it up when he delivered in the clutch with the 33 yard game winning TD catch. And while sure Tate and Malone only played against backups, perhaps its time to get both of these guys more involved against the starters in this next game, as I could see Ross, Malone and Tate all possibly contribute this season in some way.

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20 hours ago, MrCincinnati said:

Possibly the biggest winner was Auden Tate who is fighting for a roster spot, and maybe already sealed it up when he delivered in the clutch with the 33 yard game winning TD catch

Maybe.  he has to keep his foot on the gas.  The big problem (for him) is that even though he's played really well, he's still the 5th WR in terms of getting actual snaps at WR.  And Core is still ahead of him if you're strictly talking ST's.  Even bigger is that he's unlikely to move ahead of that 5th spot unless there's some injuries.  Malone, Ross, Boyd have all played too well.

We'll know after this preseason game if they plan on keeping him.  If he plays, and plays a lot, they're keeping him.  If they don't play him, they're planning on stashing him on the PS.

I think they play him a lot, and ultimately keep him.

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19 minutes ago, johndeere1707 said:

The number one thing I want to see is better run blocking 

Me too.  Especially by being more aggressive at the snap.  With Paul Alexander watching from the other side.

 

I'd also like to see geno destroy one lineman on one play and then stare down PA too.  Just for fun....

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8 minutes ago, THE DUKE said:

Has Auden Tate been playing on special teams?  If he is, then I'd say he's a mortal lock to make the roster.  If not, then it's a question.

I don't believe he has been

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I guess it could be taken different ways but Marv’s comment of “people better take notice” about Tate after the bears game seems pretty out of the ordinary coming from Marv. He won’t last a day on the ps and as much as Marv harped about playmakers last year I’d hope he’s a lock for the 53.

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18 hours ago, johndeere1707 said:

Even if they keep Auden Tate on the 53, you have to wonder how many games he will actually be active. 

He would be the 6th receiver because Erickson will be active (assuming he makes it)

so they would be stashing him in case of injury. 

I have to imagine it's only a handful of games.  But it all depends on the injuries.

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11 hours ago, Futbudds said:

I guess it could be taken different ways but Marv’s comment of “people better take notice” about Tate after the bears game seems pretty out of the ordinary coming from Marv. He won’t last a day on the ps and as much as Marv harped about playmakers last year I’d hope he’s a lock for the 53.

I'm thinking the same thing

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39 minutes ago, theJ said:

I have to imagine it's only a handful of games.  But it all depends on the injuries.

I think they dress all 6 reagardless.  Erickson will dress for special teams alone.  Tate offers a dynamic to the offense that literally noone else offers, except maybe Green.  

 

They probably carry 10-11 DBs.  A couple of them will be inactive on gamedays.  Andrew Brown is probably inactive.  Given Eifert's history, it would be safe to assume he is inactive a few games as well.  Throw in the 4th RB, an o-lineman, and one more, there's your 8 inactives.

 

Tate plays.  Or someone has lost their mind.

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I want to see the o-line make more strides to start looking competent.

Tate play more earlier....we really may have gotten a steal here.

Would like to see Bates play a little beter.

 

I really want to see Driskel come out as the #2... Barkley is garbage and we have already seen what he can do with other teams.

.

 

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