Cincinnati Bengals' new and aggressive preseason plan shows willingness to buck recent trend
An 0-2 start to the regular season usually stops an NFL team right in its tracks. It didn't have the same effect for the 2022 Cincinnati Bengals, the eventual AFC North champions and runner up of the entire conference. 2023 was a bit of a different story. Same record after two weeks, much different circumstances surrounding […]
An 0-2 start to the regular season usually stops an NFL team right in its tracks. It didn't have the same effect for the 2022 Cincinnati Bengals, the eventual AFC North champions and runner up of the entire conference.
2023 was a bit of a different story. Same record after two weeks, much different circumstances surrounding the nature of it all, and a much different overall outcome by January.
The lesson is that recovering from slow starts in this league is anything but sustainable. That's why Zac Taylor is taking an extra step to help avoid it.
After two years of conducting joint practices against a single preseason opponent, Taylor's Bengals will be practicing against two of their exhibition opponents. They'll practice against the Chicago Bears on August 15 leading up to their Week 2 bout on August 17, and get a taste of the Indianapolis Colts on August 20 ahead of the preseason finale on August 22.
The Bengals haven't done this before in the Taylor era, and the shift in mindset appears obvious: Getting better prepared for the real thing by September.
The importance of joint practices for Cincinnati has stemmed from how they've approached preseason games in recent years. Rarely have offensive starters actually started and played in the exhibitions under Taylor's command. Part of it is because quarterback Joe Burrow hasn't been able to play. Part of it is preserving Burrow's playmakers while he isn't able to rep with them.
Instead of dishing those reps out in a semi-filled stadium, the mock scrimmages against the opponent on the practice field became the setting to put training camp work and install to the test. A more controlled setting allowed for better preservation of health, and flexibility to call for specific situations.
And even if it's not an actual game, exhibition or not, it's still going up against different names wearing different colors.
Taylor clearly values the concept, so much that he's doubling the amount of teams he wants to face. It doesn't give us a clear picture as to how the preseason games will be managed, but it does indicate the awareness of a problem, and the willingness to solve it.
We'll find out the results in yielded when Week 2 concludes in September.
Bengals head coach Zac Taylor explains quarterback Joe Burrow’s surprise absence at OTAs
Burrow is still working back from his wrist injury.
