Bengals vs. Colts final score: Cincinnati drops preseason finale

Fourth quarter updates: Woodside engineered another sound drive for the Bengals that spanned the third and fourth quarters. He nearly threw a touchdown pass to Auden Tate, but it was ruled incomplete. Unfortunately, the drive stalled out in the red zone and the Bengals had to settle for another Brown field goal to increase their lead, 26-14.

The Colts and rookie quarterback Phillip Walker had an answer, though. Indianapolis marched down the field and climbed back into it with just over six minutes to play with a touchdown to cut Cincinnati’s lead to 26-21.

Unfortunately, during the late portion of the game, the Bengals were stung by the injury bug. Running back Mark Walton, as well as defensive backs Tyrice Beverette and KeiVarae Russell all left the game with varying ailments. Additionally, Trayvon Henderson looked to have a pretty serious knee injury after making a clutch interception.

Cincinnati allowed the Colts to hang in the game with under two minutes to play because of penalties and allowances of big passing plays by Walker. The dagger was a touchdown pass to former Bengal, Cobi Hamilton, to cap off a five-play, 86-yard drive to give Indianapolis their first lead of the game, 27-26.

Third quarter updates: The Colts started their first drive of the half and it got off with a bang. Brandon Oliver was to go-to weapon, as he had a 33-yard catch off of a screen pass and a subsequent running touchdown to cut the Bengals’ lead to 20-14.

On the ensuing possession, Logan Woodside took over at quarterback and made a masterful throw to Josh Malone for 25 yards early in the drive. The Bengals charged down the field under his watch, thanks to both some nice plays on his end, and two 15-yard penalties by Indianapolis. Cincinnati capped the drive off with a Jonathan Brown field goal to make it 23-14.

Second quarter updates: Unfortunately, the multitude of chances the Bengals’ defense gave to the Colts came back and bit them. On third-and-goal, Brissett threw a touchdown pass to tie the game, 7-7.

Though the Bengals had an uneventful drive after Indianapolis’ touchdown, injury news his Cincinnati once again. H-back Cethan Carter suffered a shoulder injury and was forced to leave the game for good.

On the ensuing possession, the Bengals punted and pinned the Colts offense deep in their own territory. Brissett and his running back had an odd exchange, leading to a fumble that was recovered by linebacker, Hardy Nickerson, Jr.

Nickerson returned it to the Colts’ 4-yard line to put the Bengals’ back in business. After a really tough preseason overall, Mark Walton took the carry on second down and took it two yards to give the Bengals a 13-7 lead after Jonathan Brown missed an extra point (the attempt was pushed back after a false start penalty).

After both teams exchanged drives late in the quarter, Driskel and the Bengals’ offense went to work in the two-minute drill. He dink-and-dunked his way down the field, until he heaved a beauty to the back-left pylon to Josh Malone for a touchdown and a 20-7 with just two seconds left before halftime.

First quarter updates: Matt Barkley got the start at quarterback, with Mark Walton as the team’s starting tailback, as the starters largely rested. Unfortunately, after Walton netted three yards on a second down carry, the “first team offense” went three-and-out.

After letting up two first downs to the Indianapolis offense, the defense forced a fumble by Robert Turbin. Linebacker Brandon Bell recovered it to give the ball back to the Bengals’ offense.

On the ensuing play, Barkley launched a deep pass to John Ross on what looked like a touchdown, but he dropped it (though the defender grabbed one of his arms a little early). Two plays later, the Bengals were gifted a first down on a roughing the passer penalty on Barkley.

Unfortunately, Barkley was forced out of the game on the same drive with a knee injury from the penalized hit and was replaced by Jeff Driskel. He ended up finishing up the drive by putting six points on the board via a Tra Carson one-yard touchdown run. Unfortunately, Barkley was ruled out shortly after the touchdown drive.

The Bengals’ defense didn’t come back all that strong on the ensuing drive. Sam Hubbard had a sack of Jacoby Brissett, but the unit allowed first downs on a third-and-19, a first-and-29 and a third-and-10 to bring the Colts into scoring range.

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The final preseason game is usually looked down on by most casual fans, but this is a vital game for plenty of players.

And most importantly, we’ve made it to the end of the preseason! The regular season is just around the corner.

Even the players who have a minuscule chance of making the Bengals’ roster have plenty of incentive to play well. The fact is these players are auditioning for spots on either the Bengals or other teams’ rosters or practice squads. Oh, and then there’s John Ross who is an anticipated starter and is also expected to play tonight.

The Bengals probably won’t play many of their other starters at all, instead they’ll get a bye week in preparation for the regular season, which will ironically kick off with Cincinnati taking on the Colts. It is rare that two teams will play each other in back-to-back weeks, but the Colts and Bengals have that opportunity.

Here is how to watch the final Bengals preseason game

Game: Cincinnati Bengals (3-0) vs Indianapolis Colts (2-1)

Date/Time: Aug. 30th, 2018 at 7 p.m. ET

Location: Paul Brown Stadium, Cincinnati, OH

Series Leader: Colts, 19-11 (regular season and playoffs)

Streak: The Bengals have won three of the last five.

Coaches vs. Opponent: Marvin Lewis: 3-6. Frank Reich: 0-0

TV Broadcast: The game will air on the Bengals Preseason TV Network, led by Cincinnati flagship station WKRC-TV (CBS Channel 12). Broadcasters are Mike Watts (play-by-play), Anthony Munoz (analyst) and Mike Valpredo (sideline reporter). The network also includes WKEF-TV (ABC Ch. 22) in Dayton, WSYXTV (ABC Ch. 6) in Columbus, WLIO-TV (FOX Ch. 8.2) in Lima, WDKY-TV FOX Ch. 56) in Lexington, Ky. and WDRB-TV (FOX Ch. 41) in Louisville, Ky.

Radio Broadcast: The game will air on the Bengals Radio Network, led by Cincinnati flagship stations WLW-AM (700), WCKY-AM (ESPN 1530; all sports) and WEBN-FM (102.7). Broadcasters are Dan Hoard (play-by-play) and Dave Lapham (analyst).

Online Stream: NFL Gamepass and NFL.com

SB Nation Colts site: Stampede Blue

Weather: Mid 70’s, mostly cloudy [NFL weather]

Odds: Bengals, -1.5 [Odds Shark]

TV coverage map (via 506sports.com)

Replay: NFL Network and NFL Gamepass

Prediction: OddsShark projects a 26-13 win for the Bengals