As we expected, Week 4 of the preseason wasn’t one of the prettiest displays of football. Even so, many things the Cincinnati Bengals likely wanted to see and accomplish in the summer finale were put on film.
Bubble roster players made final statements to seal their fate and some of the rookies made some plays on Thursday night that could make decisions difficult on the Bengals’ coaching staff. On the flip side, some mental errors cost the team points, the game and some players’ jobs.
Undrafted running back Jarveon Williams had a nice night, aside from a lost fumble, racking up 117 rushing yards and 42 receiving yards. His role was far more prominent on Thursday night as Tra Carson sat with an injury, while the coaches rested their other top three running backs. Could Williams sneak on to the Bengals’ roster now that Cedric Peerman is on Injured Reserve?
Jordan Willis and Jordan Evans have been impressive all summer, with the former getting his fourth sack of the preseason against Indianapolis (one in each game). Other youngsters like David Dean, Hardy Nickerson, Jr., Josh Tupou and Brandon Bell all had nice nights for the defense as well.
On the negative side, penalties (11) and turnovers (two) marked Cincinnati’s performance and it cost the team points and, for some players, their potential jobs. Jake Elliott looked to have nailed his second field goal attempt of the night, but a false start penalty pushed the try back five yards and he shanked it. He also had a last-second chance from 60 yards that he barely missed.
Meanwhile, Randy Bullock was perfect on the preseason coming into the contest, but he also had a chance to give the team a lead late in the game and missed from 47 yards. After stellar preseasons from both kickers, neither had a great showing in the final game to determine the winner of the team’s 2017 kicking job.
Also, a worrisome aspect for everyone to keep an eye on were a couple of injuries. First round pick John Ross left with a knee injury, while quarterback Jeff Driskel dinged up his thumb. We don’t know the severity of either quite yet, but there could be some roster impact with those issues, especially Driskel’s.
What were your thoughts on the Bengals’ 7-6 loss to the Colts on Thursday night?
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