Cincinnati Bengals Preseason: 3 Takeaways vs Washington
By Kenn Korb
A few noteworthy takeaways for the Cincinnati Bengals following a 23-17 loss to the Washington Redskins in Week 3 of the 2017 NFL Preseason.
The third week of the NFL preseason is over. With it in the past, there’s only a couple more steps to go before rosters are set for the beginning of the season. The final preseason games come on Thursday, but beyond helping make final determinations for the back-end of team rosters, there’s little that should be expected to be gained from the results. A couple of days after that final preseason game, those last roster decisions will be made as squads are cut down to 53 players to enter the year.
Then, all we really have left, save for any last-minute post-cutdown movements and/or adjustments by teams, is the wait. It won’t be long (53-man roster cuts must be made by Saturday, Sept. 2, then Kansas City plays New England in the season opener on Thursday, Sept. 7), but it always feels that way.
This past week’s preseason games (being the unofficial “dress rehearsal” game that they are commonly referred to as) were the best taste of football we were going to get since the February before the 2017 regular season finally, mercifully gets set underway.
Related Story: NFL Power Rankings 2017: Best players by jersey number
For the Cincinnati Bengals fans out there the game may have ended as a loss in the preseason (i.e.: meaningless) standings, but what their players — and in particular the ones who are expected to garner the most meaningful roles, snaps, and production during the 2017 season — were able to show and accomplish in the limited time they did manage to spend on the field, there were multiple clear signs to be excited about.
That’s great news for the most important game of a team’s annual preseason slate, but perhaps even more important for this particular group. With numerous rookies added to the mix, as well as pretty uninspiring outings in their first two preseason contests, a heartening performance was essentially a necessity at this point. Fortunately, they didn’t disappoint.
Here’s a few particular takeaways I have from the outing.