It's the final audition. Where the guys that aren't sealed as certain roster selections, put it all on the line for a job in the National Football League. The starters won't see much action tonight. Carson Palmer won't play at all (though latest word is that he's dressing and could still play). No, this isn't your average NFL game. It'll be sloppy. It'll be low scoring. But most definitely, you'll have a bunch of guys playing their guts out for a place on this team. And if you have a general love for football who simply enjoys guys going all out in desperation for a job, this might be a game for you.
Now. A few battles tonight.
Battle for backup and third-down running back: Brian Leonard vs. Bernard Scott vs. DeDe Dorsey.
Battle for the last two wide receiver spots: Antonio Chatman, Jerome Simpson, Maurice Purify, Quan Cosby, Freddy Brown.
Battle for the backup fullback: Granted, the Bengals could still take one. However, during Hard Knocks, you started to get the impression the Bengals could take a second. Fui Vakapuna vs. Chris Pressley.
Battle for starting quarterback: Just kidding.
Battle of the punt returners: Cosby vs. Tom Nelson
Battle of the backup safety/corner: Nelson vs. Corey Lynch
Battle for backup cornerback: Morgan Trent vs. Rico Murray vs. Geoffrey Pope (assuming that David Jones is still hurt, or if he hasn't lost his backup role due to the length of his injury)
Battle for the third-string tight end (if applicable): J.P. Foschi vs. Darius Hill vs. Kolo Kapanui vs. Chris Harrington (again, kidding)
Battle for fifth defensive end: Presuming the team takes five, you have a battle of: Frostee Rucker vs. Harrington.
Beating the crap out of the Indianapolis Colts: Cincinnati Bengals
Those are just a few. There will be more battles. As always, present what you're looking forward to and predictions to tonight's winner (I still want to win!).