Bengals vs. Buccaneers Preseason Week 2 MVP Award

Preseason football is rarely pretty--we know this. The Cincinnati Bengals took the sentiment quite literally against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Monday night with a poor showing on the national stage. That being the case, we're having a hard time coming up with nominees for the MVP Award this week, but we'll try nonetheless.

Be sure to cast your vote for this week's Bengals Most Valuable Player award and sound off on why you went with your selection!

QB AJ McCarron: There were instances where the second-year backup looked a little panicky and simply dumped the ball off to a running back. But, in other moments, he showed heady play while eluding some pass rush. He put together a nice drive at the end of the game, engineering the team's lone touchdown drive of the evening. McCarron finished 11-of-15 passing, with 97 yards and another three yards rushing.

RB James Wilder, Jr.: Though his touches were extremely limited in front of his hometown, Wilder still made the most of them. Though he only had two carries for 14 yards, one went for a first down, while the other was a touchdown run. His third touch of the evening was a swing pass in which he forced his way through the pylon and in for a two-point conversion. Wilder also had a special teams tackle and continues to make a case for himself to take one of the final running back spots.

LB P.J. Dawson: The rookie 'backer had a great stop on a fourth-and-goal from the one-yard line where he knifed in and stopped the running back. He had three other solid tackles on the evening, causing Jon Gruden to say: "Dawson has had about four high-impact tackles tonight".

LB/DE Chris Carter: Paul Guenther has fallen in love with this kid through camp and it appears he has found a nice niche with the defense. After getting a couple of pressures in the preseason opener, Carter had 1.5 sacks and three total tackles on the evening. He was one of just a few Bengals players who appeared to actually be awake in the contest.