NFL Week 1 Primer: Cincinnati Bengals (0-0) at Indianapolis Colts (0-0)

No, you clicked on the right post. The Bengals and Colts are playing this week again. This time around, the starters for each team will see the field, and the game will actually count.

This will be our first look at the newest reincarnation of Marvin Lewis’s Bengals. There are plenty of familiar faces with Andy Dalton and A.J. Green still leading the offense, and Geno Atkins is still the dominant force that keeps the defense running. The players around the mainstays are a lot younger than in recent years though.

This season though we should expect to see even more of the Bengals young talent emerging. Joe Mixon isn’t forced to pretend that Jeremy Hill is the starting running back. Carl Lawson will continue to get fed pass-rushing snaps off the edge. If his health permits, John Ross will see the production we expected last year, after an offseason of reflection.

To cap it all off, two rookies starting on a Marvin Lewis-led team is unheard of. But sure enough, Billy Price will be starting at center and Jessie Bates III at safety.

This is also Bill Lazor’s first season where he gets to call an offense that he designed, and we get to see how much of an impact Teryl Austin being hired as the defensive coordinator will have.

On the opposite sideline, the Colts will also see Andrew Luck under center for a meaningful game for the first time in over a season, and he has a new offensive-minded head coach in Frank Reich. So we should expect emotions to be high in Indianapolis.

Here is everything you need to know for the game:

Game: Cincinnati Bengals (0-0) at Indianapolis Colts (0-0)

Date/Time: Sep. 9th, 2018 at 1 p.m. EST

Location: Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, IN

Series Leader: Colts, 19-11

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 CBS-TV. Broadcasters are Andrew Catalon (play-by-play), James Lofton (analyst) and Jane Slater (analyst). In the Bengals’ home region, it will be carried by WKRC-TV (Ch. 12) in Cincinnati, WHIO-TV (Ch. 7) in Dayton and on WKYT-TV (Ch. 27) in Lexington, Ky.

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

SB Nation Colts site: Stampede Blue

Weather: Dome [NFL weather]

Odds: Bengals, +1.5 [Odds Shark]

Bengals Notes

• The Bengals have won 3 of past 4 on Kickoff Weekend.
• Quarterback Andy Dalton passed for 3,320 yards in 2017 and joined Peyton Manning and Cam Newton as only quarterbacks to pass for over 3,000 yards in each of their first seven seasons. He has six touchdowns and no interceptions for a 97.5 passer rating in four career meetings.
• Running back Joe Mixon had 913 scrimmage yards (626 rushing and 287 receiving) in 2017, fifth-most among rookie running backs. Giovani Bernard was one of five AFC running backs with over 450 rushing yards (458) and 350 receiving yards (389) last season.
• Wide receiver A.J. Green led the team with 75 catches for 1,078 yards and eight touchdowns last season, his sixth career season with over 1,000 receiving yards. He became the first player in NFL history to record over 950 receiving yards in each of his first seven seasons, surpassing Hall of Famer Randy Moss (six). Green aims for his fourth game in a row with a touchdown against the Colts. Tight end Tyler Kroft ranked third among AFC tight ends with seven touchdown catches last season.
• Defensive tackle Geno Atkins led the team with nine sacks last season. Since 2010, he leads NFL defensive tackles with 61 sacks. Defensive end Carlos Dunlap had 7.5 sacks in 2017, his fifth consecutive season with over seven sacks. He has 1.5 sacks, an interception returned for a touchdown,a forced fumble, fumble recovery and two passes batted down in the past two meetings. Defensive end Carl Lawson led NFL rookies with 8.5 sacks in 2017.
• Linebacker Preston Brown makes his Cincinnati debut. He led the NFL with 144 tackles last season with Buffalo. Brown is one of four players with over 100 tackles in each of past four seasons.

Colts Notes

• Quarterback Andrew Luck passed for 4,240 yards with 31 touchdowns and 13 interceptions for a 96.4 passer rating in 2016. He has passed for 670 yards (335 per game) with six touchdowns and no interceptions for a 109.6 passer rating in two career meetings.
• Running back Marlon Mack had 583 scrimmage yards (358 rushing and 225 receiving) and four touchdowns (three rushing and one receiving) last season. Rookie running back Nyheim Hines was selected in the fourth round of 2018 NFL Draft. He recorded the thirrd-most career all-purpose yards (4,638) in NC State history.
• Wide receiver T.Y. Hilton had 57 receptions for a team-high 966 yards and four touchdowns in 2017. He is one of four wide receivers with over 900 receiving yards in each of past five seasons. Tight end Jack Doyle second among NFL tight ends with career-high 80 receptions last season and joined Dallas Clark (100 in 2009) as only the tight ends in franchise history with at least 80 catches in single season.
• Defensive end Jabaal Sheard had a team-leading 5.5 sacks in 2017. He has over five sacks in six of his seven seasons. Safety Malik Hooker tied for fourth among rookies with three interceptions in 2017 and became the first rookie in team history to record and interception in three consecutive games (Weeks 2-4) since 1984.
• Kicker Adam Vinatieri ranks second in NFL history with 2,487 points scored and he needs 58 points to pass Hall of Famer kicker Morten Anderson (2,544) as NFL’s all-time leading scorer.

The referee for the game will be a familiar face for the Bengals in Pete Morelli.

*Editor’s note: The Bengals beat the Colts in last year’s meeting 24-23