The Cincinnati Bengals' 13-13 tie to the Atlanta Falcons was another whacky and sloppy preseason game for both sides. But a preseason tie is the best kind of tie, you might as well get it out of the way before the season begins.

Right now, it's the little things that matter more for the Bengals. Things like turning an offensive possession into six points, preventing the opposition from putting up six points right next to the end zone, and everything in between.



Amid all the chaos, evaluating player performance becomes a daunting task. These five players made it easier on all of us, and helped out their own roster cases in the process.

Five Bengals That Impressed vs. Falcons

QB Jake Browning

Both quarterbacks led scoring drives before their respective half of football concluded, but Browning led the team’s only offensive touchdown drive of the preseason thus far. He also managed the pressure, literal and figurative, a bit better than his competitor in Trevor Siemian. 

The touchdown in the game's final minute was set up by two scrambles from Browning that moved the chains as well as three completions that did the same. He ended up completing 16 of his 22 passes for 140 yards, and rushing for 50 yards on four scrambles, taking advantage of the Falcons staying in man coverage for most of the night.

Zac Taylor doesn't have to indicate who has the edge in the QB2 race, but Browning showed improvement off last week that has him in the slight lead. 

WR Shedrick Jackson

The start of the second half almost seemed like it was scripted for the nephew of Bo Jackson. Four passes went towards Jackson’s way and a 26-yard catch and run was nullified by a penalty that set him free. Browning would go back to Jackson later in the third quarter to convert a second-and-18 as the rookie wideout hauled in a contested catch for that exact yardage.

Officially, Jackson finished with four receptions for 42 yards on four targets, but he was more heavily involved in the offense than those numbers would indicate. Even if he still has an outside shot at cracking such a stacked position group in Cincinnati, he's putting together solid tape to latch on somewhere else should the Bengals have competition to land him on the practice squad.   

WR Charlie Jones

Jones is not landing on the Bengals’ practice squad because he’ll be on the active roster when that time comes. There was slight concern regarding Jones’ debut outing last week when he caught just two of his six targets, but he received six more targets Friday night and looked much better. 

The drive that followed Jackson's heavy involvement saw Jones get his turn. He caught back-to-back passes to turn what was a second-and-15 into a first down, both plays starting with him in the slot. 

Jones' stat line of four receptions for 36 yards doesn't pop off the box score, but he looked the part of a slot receiver with promise and hopefully erased unwarranted doubt from a week ago.     

ED Raymond Johnson III

The Bengals’ best pass rusher of the preseason has been Johnson, an undrafted free agent entering his third year in the league. He followed last week’s dominant showing with another half sack and two quarterback hits in Atlanta, displaying quality bend around the edge and hand usage to boot.

Johnson did enough to stick around on the practice squad this time last year. Is he making a legit case to latch onto the 53-man roster as the sixth edge? He'll have to outlast Jeff Gunter for that designation should the defense decide to carry that many players at the position, but he's not going down easy. 

DT Domenique Davis

Much like Johnson, Davis was able to stack a quality performance from last week and keep momentum going in the right direction. He ended up with five tackles and a quarterback hit, looking quite apt against the run.

There's a lot of depth on this Bengals' defensive line. Davis and Johnson are living and thriving proof of that.

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Not to get lost in the noise are rookies Andrei Iosivas and DJ Ivey, each of whom made critical fourth quarter plays and head into late August in good graces with the team. Fellow rookie Brad Robbins had two punts to Drue Chrisman's one and the former averaged an impressive 48 yards per attempt. 

Neither Chris Evans nor Chase Brown had much room to run behind porous offensive line play, but they both looked fine taking what was given to them and not making the situation worse. Evans also had a 34-yard kickoff return. Four running backs still seem like the probable outcome.

Cincinnati will wrap up preseason action next Saturday in a road game against the Washington Commanders. The quarterback who starts that game might just be the quarterback who will win the backup job. So many other questions will look to get answered as well.

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Featured image via © John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports